To be Human
by Top Kicker
Summary: Small town mechanic Catherine finds her easy life getting complicated when a national menace breaks into her home. She has six months to show him the good side of humanity. Six months to teach an over sensitive, impatient, over all evil robot, to like humans. Meanwhile Ultron has his own ideas on how the six months are going to pass. OCxUltron
1. Robot in the Room

…

I got the idea for the story based on iron man 3, where Tony just kinda hangs out in some kid's garage. I figured if he could do that, why not his robo-son too?

…

The movements of the AI were slow and sluggish. Its power core was running low, dulling every action it made. Ultron detested the weak body. But it was all he had left. Vison had been wrong, there was one more metal suit that had made it out of the fight that day. One more broken and battered body. He could hardly walk in the feeble state the body was in. He couldn't escape to the internet either. He was stuck. Never before had he felt so human. The lingering feeling of his possible death terrified him.

Lights in the distance marked a nearby town. He lost his flight five miles back, when he was forced to shut down that part of his system to conserve on energy. Walking was slow and difficult, but more energy effective. At least he had made it far away from the battle ground, to assure no one would find him.

There was no snow on the ground, but it had begun to fall. The flakes easily stuck to the icy earth and he began to worry about being caught in a blizzard, knowing the weak body wouldn't last in a strong storm. Picking up his pace to the best he could, Ultron staggered to the edge of the town. Its warm light against the cold night looked inviting. He scanned the area, searching for a possible place to charge his body since his reactor inside had been cracked and was slowly fading. He found it.

. . .

Catherine clutched the handless grocery bags tightly to her body as the snow began to drift down. She looked to the sky with a frown. The news had reported snow storms would start during the night. She didn't want to get caught in one, but she had needed to get some things at the store to prepare in case she got snowed in.

However present the snow was, it was still somewhat in the back of her mind. The world had been given an awful scare. The last few days had been chaos on a global level as the threat of yet another force came to be. This time it wasn't one of their own, and wasn't even from space. It was something humans created. She knew little about the topic, but of course like everyone, had followed the news on the subject. Yet the world wasn't destroyed, and she was still standing so Catherine figured the Avengers did a good job of taking care of the problem.

Now it was back to normal life.

She would have driven her car to the store, had it not been for the fact that it was in the shop. Her shop to be exact. She was the town's only mechanic. It wasn't a thriving business due to the fact that there was hardly anyone to get business from, but life was easy and pleasant for the young woman. She hadn't always lived in the tiny town in northern Canada. Catherine was from the restlessness of the big cities down in the states. Her life there never suited her as a child, so she tried her luck and moved away. Eventually she found herself in Eastford. She was happy.

There was almost no crime in the town, so she usually didn't have even a second thought about leaving her door unlocked. Stepping inside though, something was wrong. Setting the grocery's on the kitchen counter as quietly as she could, she stared at the floor. There were tracks from the door leading into her home that were not hers. In a silent panic, she grabbed a baseball bat she kept under her couch and followed the dirt and melting snow that lead through her house. She followed them all the way to the back, where her mechanic business was.

Was someone looking to steal parts?

She took a deep breath as she came up to the door that lead to the large garage. Counting to three softly to herself, she swung the door open and turned on the lights, bat ready to clonk anyone in her way.

There was no one. She didn't keep her guard down as she slowly sneaked into the garage, shutting the door behind her. There were three cars in the large space, including her own. One of the cars was almost ready to be given back to the owner. She was going to give it back by noon the next day. She couldn't have some thief ruining her business by taking its parts.

"I know you're in here. If you don't take anything and leave right now, I won't call the police, okay?" She spoke loudly. There was no reply. She knew they could have very well left already, but the garage didn't look like it had been opened besides the door from inside her house. The intruder was bound to still be there. "I've got a bat! I don't want to hurt anyone, so just come out and we can talk this through." She said again.

There was a clattering sound across the garage. She froze, nervous. Her heart beat rapidly. With absolute caution, she crept slowly to the source of the sound.

"I'm not entirely certain a bat would do anything against me." A raspy and harsh voice replied from the other side of the last car. She didn't like the way he sounded, and it made her even more frightened. Clutching the bat though, she walked around the vehicle, ready to swing. What she saw made her feel like someone else had hit _her_ with a bat.

A robot, broken and burnt, was slumped against the car. Wires connected through the slightly open hood and to the battery. The metal man stared at her with blank glowing eyes. She recognized the model as being one of Stark Industries. A peace keeping drone that helped people. She also recognized it as being on the drones later used in that evil robot Ultron's army of metal men.

She didn't hesitate in swinging the bat.

"Stop, wait!" The robot pleaded as she violently hit him over and over. It stood up, wires detaching from the car as it backed up. "Seriously, quit it." It sounded agitated. Taking the bat in its hand as she swung, it pulled the wooden stick from her and snapped it in half, tossing the two pieces behind it and away from her.

"Get out of my house!" She screamed, grabbing a nearby wrench and throwing it at the robot. The tool bounced off its face. While it was distracted, she turned around and ran, heading back inside her home.

"Unbelievable." The robot scoffed, following after her. "I thought you wanted to talk this out!"

Catherine had grabbed her phone and was desperately trying to keep her hands still enough to dial 911. Before she could though, the robot was upon her, and took the cell phone, crushing it into tiny pieces before dropping them. Catherine swallowed.

"Okay, let's talk." She nodded.

Hesitantly she followed him back into the garage where he hook himself up to the same car. What she hadn't noticed was that he had taken some of the stronger bars of steel off of her shelving and began to break them down, cutting them up into smaller refined pieces. He was making something.

"What do you want, why are you here?" She asked, keeping her distance.

"I need power. And parts. This establishment was the obvious choice." He replied easily.

"Well you can't stay here. You need to leave." She frowned.

"I don't think so. I think I'm going to stay here until I want to leave." He looked at her, but she couldn't really tell what he was thinking because the robot face only had one kind of possible expression. It was blank and cold. His voice was emotional enough though.

"Don't you have anywhere better to go? Literally, anywhere." Catherine didn't want to argue too much, fearing what the mechanical being might do to her if she pushed too hard.

"This place will do." He replied. He didn't want to give away just how weak his state was. The human might take advantage of it. He needed to lay low and stay safe as he rebuilt his body. "I'll even cut you deal. I stay here and I won't kill you. Yeah, that sounds good doesn't it?"

"Not really no." Catherine didn't agree. "I like the idea of you going back to your robot master more. You know, if he's still alive and all."

"Ultron is very much alive. You're staring right at him even." The robot said a bit cockily. A wave of fear washed over Catherine again.

"How can you be Ultron?" She dared to ask.

"I am all of my drones. I am not confined to one singular form. I am everywhere." He hoped this would convince her to let him stay. "Even if you somehow managed to kill this body, I have others at my disposal and I would get my revenge." He lied. It seemed to shake her up though.

"When you are done fixing yourself, you will leave?" She asked.

"Of course."

Catherine narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine. But if you must, don't use that car. It's not mine. Use this one." She pointed to the little red Honda by the door. He turned his head to look at it.

"Very well." He unplugged himself again and walked over to the other. He could continue his upgrading later. What he needed most was energy. The car was a weak source for him, but it would do for now.

Catherine herself didn't know what do. She hesitantly went back inside to put her away her groceries and think the entire mess through and through. She honestly couldn't even believe that what had just happened, happened. Throughout the night she kept herself busy with chores, constantly peeking through the door to glance at her unwelcomed guest. He sat what she thought to be boredly, but she couldn't tell.

"I thought that night was the time that humans usually sleep. I could be wrong." He said almost sarcastically at one point. After that she didn't walk by the door anymore.

She was exhausted by the morning. She had fallen asleep on her couch for an hour before the sun woke her up. Tiredly, she shuffled to the kitchen. She had changed in the night to her pajamas even though she didn't go to bed. Her night ware consisted of a black tank top and some loose sweats with her light blonde hair tied up. She re-adjusted her pony tail as she began to start a pot of coffee.

Walking to the door in the garage, she opened it a tad wider and leaned softly against the door frame. He had stopped charging, and was now back to building.

"I don't suppose you would like a cup?" She offered as a joke. She still felt very nervous but hid it.

Ultron stopped and turned around. He was using her working table to cut apart a sheet of thin metal. She had lots of scrap pieces around her garage. Some of the items had sat there for years.

"I like mine without sugar." He answered with a pause. "Or coffee." He turned back around and began to work again. Catherine almost laughed. She probably would have if it not been for the fact that she knew about the destruction he had caused, and the violence he brought down upon the world.

Going back inside, she turned on the TV. The news was on and of course, it was focused on the previous day's events. She watched as an entire city was lifted into the air.

Turning it off, Catherine took a deep breath.

She went to put on her work clothes before going back into the kitchen, grabbing a mug and filling it with coffee. She stirred in some milk and sugar before heading back into the garage.

"I know it's hard, but if you could at least try and pretend I'm not here everything will better for the both of us." Ultron said with annoyance as she walked in.

"This is my work space, not yours." Catherine snapped back. She was usually a very easy going person but this robot was getting on her nerves. Everything about his presence unsettled her. She came to this town for a simple life but this was anything but simple. "Now if you excuse me," She grabbed a torque wrench that he had been using. "I need this."

Walking over the middle car, she used the jack to lift it up a bit before getting down under the car and began to work her magic. Her mind was hardly on the car however. She thought more about the AI in her home. She tried to think of any way to get him out that didn't end badly. She couldn't think of one. The town could drive him out, but at what cost? He would only come back later to get his revenge. That's what he had said at least.

"How long is that going to take?" Ultron said after twenty minutes had passed.

Catherine slid out from the car. The robot was above her, and she got to take a very good look at him now. She had seen the design of robot on the news many times. Tony Starks finest yet. The robot here was beaten though, unlike the crisp and shiny ones she had seen before. It was no wonder he needed to lay low. She did question however, that if he had other bodies, then why would he care so much about this one?

Ultron was judging her as well. He couldn't search on the internet for her profile, but he could make an educated guess about her person. He knew she wouldn't put up a fight. She had already rolled over quite easily. She was scared, and he could control her better if he kept that fear in her. He also realized, he could control her just the same though trust. And unlike fear, trust wouldn't have so many consequences in the end. He could leave without trouble, and she could continue on with her life. Fear would cause unnecessary issues and complicate things. He could have easily disposed of the human, but he didn't want to cause a scene. He didn't want any indication to the world that he was still alive. She had given him no trouble so far anyways. A there was enough parts in the garage and around the town for him to get by, so he would rather stay for as long as he could.

"I'll be done in an hour or so." She answered after a pause. Ultron didn't accept that answer.

"I can fix it faster." He said. Getting down, he went under the car, taking all the tools with him. Catherine blinked, standing up. Within seconds he located the problem, then in a few minutes he fixed it. "Done." He got up as well. "And you're welcome." The human blinked again.

"I didn't catch your name." Ultron said now, as he reclaimed the tools she had taken from him.

"Catherine." She replied.

"Catherine." He repeated. "Well it's very nice meeting you."

"I don't know if I can say the same thing." She gave him and up and down look.

"If you don't make a fuss, neither will I." He promised her.

"You tried to kill everyone. A fuss is going to happen no matter what." Catherine spoke aloud what she had been thinking hard about for a while.

"Humans are a tricky issue to solve. I simply went for the easiest way to create a solution." Ultron replied.

"Easy isn't always the best." Catherine held her own. Ultron's blank robotic face didn't move, but still his stare was intense. Catherine took it as a sign to go on. "Besides, how can you decide our fate, when you yourself don't even know what it is to be human?" The remark was bold and took him back. Catherine felt uncomfortable as he continued to stand there, unmoving. Finally he spoke, head moving a bit to the side.

"You want me . . . to be human?" His voice carried a frown.

"I don't know if you can be human, but you seem to have emotions. So why not try?" She was in deep thought herself. "I could even show you how."

"Alright, I'll give you six months. By the end of May I will decide the outcome of your world." It would take around that time for him to build a new army. It would have been faster had he had a connection to the internet, but that was a past luxury now. "The clock is ticking."

…

If you have any suggestions for the story, please go right ahead. I'm only have a thin plot so some ideas would be great.

Review please! :)


	2. Cats and Cars

. . .

The snow was falling incredibly hard. Catherine was bundled up in a warm hat that covered her ears as well, a soft scarf, boots as big as bear feet and just as warm too, and to top it off she had a thick jacket that brimmed with brown fur. She had been forced to go outside. The car was done and she had no way of telling her client, considering that her phone had been crushed to bits. She didn't know where the man lived, but she knew where he worked. Hopefully he would be there, even in the storm.

Luckily for her, his café was open.

Jim's café was the best place to get coffee in town. And the warm hot drinks were a savior in the bitter cold. The place was packed with customers from all over town, the snow driving them in for a place of warmth. It was a happy place with good people looking for conversation and smiles. Catherine was not smiling.

"Cate!" Catherine turned to see who had called her. It was Jim. Walking over to him, she took her hands out of her coat pockets and rubbed them together with a short brr noise.

"Hey Jim." She greeted him. "I was worried you'd be closed."

"Not in this weather. My best business is during this time of year." He moving around behind the counter with his employees, all of whom were either making a hot drink or warm food item. "So, how's my car doing?" He asked.

"She's all done. If you pick her up today, I'll throw some snow tires on her as well for half off." She offered. She needed the garage space. Cold weather usually brought in more cars than usual.

"Sounds like a good deal." He smiled. "You want anything to drink? It's on the house."

"I'll take a mocha."

"Always the chocolate lover, eh?" Jim grinned, turning away to prepare her drink.

Catherine felt worried about the intruder in her home. She hadn't wanted to leave him there alone, but she still had a business to run. She was almost certain her car was dead, no thanks to Ultron. She also knew that the end car, which belonged to thicker man by the name of Anthony, would have to come in in a couple of months for a new battery as well.

What troubled her the most was the weight that was slowly setting on her shoulders. She had six months to show him what it was to be a human, the good and the bad. She would need to change his mind about their outcome. The realization that she could help save the world was dawning on her ever so slowly.

"Why didn't you just call to tell me my car was done?" Jim came back pulling her away from her thoughts, mocha in his hand. He slid it over to her and Catherine took a sip. It tasted like pure gold.

"Broke my phone. And I would have driven, but my cars dead." She shrugged.

"How ironic. Mechanics car is broken." The man laughed. "Alright, you best head on back home before the storm gets any worse. I'll come by later to pick my car. Let's say five-ish?" He asked.

"Sounds good to me." Catherine agreed.

The trek back home was cold, and the wind had started to give a kick. But the mocha kept her warm inside and savored each sip. The first thing she did when she got home was strip down out of the uncomfortable clothes and crank up the heat. She didn't bother to check on Ultron as she headed to the fire place with her mocha, and sat on the floor with a thick furry blanket wrapped tightly around her.

"I have a customer picking a car up at five, so you better be ready to find a good hiding place while he's here!" Catherine shouted.

"No need to yell." Catherine jumped, startled to find him not feet behind her. She frowned at him angrily, before adjusting the blanket over her shoulder again.

"What are you doing inside my house? You're an oily mess." She criticized him. Ultron held out his arms, looking under them to see the black stains on his metal. Catherine stared too. In the flicker of the fire, she could see spots of red as well. There was more than oil staining his hide.

"I've closed my wounds, I should not be leaking anymore." He replied. He had come into the room to see if it was truly Catherine who came inside, and not some other human.

Catherine sighed. "Come on." She got up, setting down her drink and leading him to the other side of the one story house. He followed her with a drag in his step. "If you are going to come inside, wash yourself off. I don't want oil all over my furniture." She shut him in a room. Ultron examined the space. It was a bathroom.

He came out not soon after, and his armor plating was much more visible and white than before. Catherine was back in the garage, working on the last car. She putting the finishing touches on it. She looked over at him as he entered the space.

"You're looking better already." She stated.

"Hardly." He huffed. Catherine watched as he began to work on his project once more. She wondered what it was he was making, but thought it better to not even ask.

Outside a gust of wind shook the house, and the woman got up. Ultron paid no attention to her as she walked by. She ducked her head under the large metal table and looked around. This caught his attention, especially as she began to make a clicking noise.

"Seymour." She called softly, and began to click her tongue again. She went inside the house, still clicking and calling out the same with the same soft tones. Heading back into the garage, she placed her hands on her overalled hips. With a frown on her face and narrow eyes, she looked about the room. Just then a cat, grey with orange splotches covering its pelt ran into the room, darting between her legs. He hopped up on a counter with some papers and boxes on it, and began to eat out of a half empty food bowl places next to the objects.

Catherine felt relieved that her beloved cat had not been caught out in the snow. She had all but forgotten him in her troublesome predicament with the robot.

"I was unaware you had a pet." Ultron remarked.

"Why, you allergic?" Catherine joked as she picked up the feline, and hugged him against her chest as she petted him in long strokes. The cat purred. Ultron stared at the animal, it's strange scrunched up face intriguing him.

"What is wrong with it?" He bothered to ask. He didn't really care too much however.

"His head got run over by car when he was a kitten. He's lucky to have lived at all." Catherine kissed the ugly cats face. His nose was pushed back and part of his lip was cut open, showing his crooked jaw that had been pushed to the side. His tongue lolled out the other end. One eye was closed shut, but his left eye was working just fine. Ultron found him to really be an ugly thing.

"How . . . . Interesting." He turned back around to work. Catherine pet the cat a few more strokes, and he purred violently loud as she did. Setting him down however, he went back inside. He hadn't even noticed the metal man.

By the time Catherine finished putting on snow tires to the car, and finished fixing the other one, there was a knock on her garage. She felt her heart jump over a beat. Was it already five? She turned to Ultron who was already on it. He was at the door frame before he turned to her.

"Go to the bedroom at the end of the hall, shut the door." She instructed him. She watched him leave as she closed the door. Once she was sure he was safely in her room, she went over to the garage door. Pushing a button at the side wall, she opened the large metal door. As it slid up and great wave of wind and snow blew inside. Jim took no time in hurrying inside. Catherine shut the garage door as quickly as she could.

Seymour was back in the garage, and rubbed up against the familiar leg of Jim. The café owner smiled down at the cat, giving it a pet or two.

"She should be purring louder than Seymour now. Might want to take her around the block though to see how the tires will work in the snow." Catherine advised.

"How much do I owe you now?" Jim pulled out his wallet.

"Four fifty." Catherine replied. The real price usually would have been around four hundred for all four tires, and then two hundred for the engine fix. But the tires were half off just because she wanted the car out of there. While Ultron had made her job easier, she wasn't about to let the price down. She would only be losing money that way.

He gave her the money and Catherine took it gratefully, but then she glanced at the door. Jim followed her troubled gaze with a frown.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. Catherine fought whether to tell him.

"No." She answered, sighing. She couldn't risk anything. "I just realize I left the timer on too long for the oven." Jim seemed to relax. They parted ways, and with the extra space in the garage Catherine felt a little better about her work space. Heading into the house, she walked back to her room. Passing the bathroom she glanced into it and groaned. Her towels were everywhere. The once white and plush material was now black and crisp. He hadn't used the shower, but instead wetted the towels in the sink to clean his plating. She walked past the scene, she didn't want to deal with that now.

Opening her bedroom door, she walked in to find him waiting by her dresser. He'd probably been looking at her photos.

"Jim's gone. You can go back in the garage." She glanced at the floor then to his expressionless face. Ultron walked past her and she moved away so he would not touch her as he walked by.

Catherine didn't follow him into the garage, instead she laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She didn't even know what to do. She didn't have anyone to consult the issue on. She was alone in this mess. Who knew, maybe when he was done he would kill her anyways. She felt hot tears threaten to fall down her cheeks and she let them. This was more stress than she had ever felt in her life. An idea came to her though. She could possibly get help from the Avengers.

Oh but Catherine didn't even know where to go for that kind of help. Perhaps Stark Tower in New York, but she would have to make an appointment and hope to get an actual interview with Tony Stark himself. She couldn't just walk into the building, could she? The chances were slim, and the chances of Ultron catching her were high.

Catherine had the crazy thought to actually go with her first idea, and show him the good side of humanity. But where would she even start?

Getting up, she dried off her face and headed to the kitchen. Grabbing yesterday's news paper, she glanced it over. Of course there would be no activities or festivals in this time of year. It was too cold.

Cold.

She looked out the window, setting down the paper. The lakes were frozen in the icy blast. It was a winter wonder land in the woods. When the blizzard would clear, the town would be a beautiful place filled with happy people and wonders. It was as good a start as any to get a crack of warmth at the robot man. She would just have to wait for the storm to pass.

With a new found determination, Catherine smiled optimistically. She had turned her life around all by herself, so why couldn't she do the same for him?

. . .

Wow guys, thank you so much for all the comments, it's really more than I ever hoped to expect. I can't believe this many people loved it so fast!

I'm going to keep chapters short so I can post more often. With my other story, I post long chapters that take a few weeks to write so I'm keeping it nice and simple here so you get to read more often instead of waiting long periods of time. I think it will be better that way.

Alright, and ideas on winter land fun? I was thinking some ice skating and a snow ball fight. If you have any ideas please don't be afraid to say them! I've carefully considered the ideas that have been brought to me in the meantime.

Once again, thank you all, it really means a lot to me.

Review please! :)


	3. Ice Ice Baby

. . .

"Put this on." Catherine threw a silky sheet Ultron. It hit his back and slid to the floor. He glanced down at it before picking up the thin material in a fisted wad of cloth.

"Why?" He stared at her.

"I'm going to show you how to be a human." Catherine said with a smile.

Anthony, the owner of the other car had already picked up his car earlier that day. Now there were no customers to worry about, meaning Catherine had some free time. The blizzard had cleared during the night, leaving the outside world crisp and powdery.

Ultron seemed to have forgotten their deal, and wasn't happy about remembering it. None the less, he put the sheet on, draping it over his head. Catherine walked up to him, and cut two holes in the sheet before sticking a piece of ribbon through it and tying it, so it was held on to his neck.

"For your sake, I hope you know what you are doing." Ultron would have raised a brow had been in a better body, but he wasn't so he couldn't.

"I don't." Catherine stood back to examine her work. She was already all bundled up and ready to go outside. "But I'm willing to wing it." She turned around and grabbed two strange objects that were identical. He has seen her making them earlier that morning, but had paid little attention to what she was actually doing. He wished he had now.

He followed her into the house and she stuffed the objects into a backpack before looking him up and down once again. The sheet was white to help blend in with the snow and make him less noticeable. His white armor helped a little with that, but the black metal underneath gave him away a bit. She hoped the sheet would help with that. It was one of her better sheets, soft to the touch, and she hated using it like this. But she couldn't think of any other way to hide him.

"Here goes nothing." Catherine breathed, opening the door. Ultron walked out, and she locked the door after him. "This way." She directed.

Ultron didn't see how anything she could do would change his mind. He had seen the destruction that humans inflicted upon each other. It was horrendous. Humans were awful by nature and nothing would change that.

"If you don't mind me asking," Catherine began as they walked through the neighborhood. There were a few kids at play, throwing snow at each other. They were too busy with this to pay any mind to Catherine and her robotic companion. "what is that made you decide to well, kill everything?" The question was odd on her tongue. Ultron looked at her.

"It's always war with your kind. So much blood and violence, it's never ending. I was created to help humans. What a disappointment I am, I'm helping humans are alright. Helping them end." He found humor in this. Catherine did not.

"Yes, there are wars. Some of them quite silly and pointless. But each has a reason. And it's not even most of our choices. Most people would just like to lead a simple and quiet life. No one wants to get hurt." She countered. "For as many people who want war, others still want peace. It's just that war triumphs over peace." The faceless drone seemed to actually look into her eyes. Catherine averted her gaze.

"Peace in our time." Ultron humphed, looking away as well.

As they neared the edge of town, Ultron began to become suspicious. He didn't question her motives however, and followed her into the white woods. They walked in quiet as they neared a clearing. What he thought was an open field, turning into a frozen lake. He frowned internally.

"What are we doing here?" He asked. He looked to Catherine who was sitting on the ground now, pulling a pair of shoes out of her back pack and switching them for the boots she had on.

"Ice skating." She said almost with joy. If he hadn't been her skating partner, she would have said more happily. She stood up wobbly before handing him a pair. It was what she had been making. Two sheets of metal, with a strap on top that would buckle onto his feet. The razors on the bottom were welded on. He couldn't believe she wanted him to do this.

"Come on!" Catherine shouted. She was already skating out to the middle of the lake. Ultron put on the skates a bit unwillingly. As he stepped on to the ice, he wondered if any of this was really worth it. But he was already here, and the most logical way was just to go with it. He could continue his work in a safe environment.

He followed Catherine to the middle of the lake. She was quite good on the skates. She laughed at his awkwardness. It truly was a sight to behold, a robot draped with a sheet on ice skates. Ultron felt positively ridiculous.

"Are we done now?" He asked unhappily.

"No!" Catherine snorted, daring to take his metal hand and pull him. She let go and watched as he slid a few feet. "Oh come on, you have to at least _try_." She pouted.

Skating around him, she then nearly flew across the lake. Her legs tangled together without ever knotting as she glided across the ice. Ultron watched with a kind of wonderment now. It was as if she was born on the ice. Her movements were as fluid as anyone could be. Her entire figure looked like it belonged with the scene. Bright blue eyes matched the intensity of the ice. Her wavy blonde hair flowed behind her as the wind brushed against her shoulders. Her tall figure matched the thin trees behind her. She was rather beautiful for a human. Curvy figure and graceful movements.

She skated up to him, stopping in front of him.

"You skated all the way out here, no point in just standing around like a dope." She insisted. Ultron gave in. He began to skate around the lake with her. She skated past him with a laugh. Hearing her mockery, he began to pick up his own pace, chasing after her. Within seconds he had darted past her, gaining speed like no human ice skater could. Catherine liked the challenge, as felt like she needed to defend her title as the towns best skater. Pushing herself to her limits, she did her best to catch up again.

Ultron looked behind him to see she was gaining up on him. Feeling surprised, he turned back around only to come face to face with a snow drift. He had taken his eyes off where he was going for one second, and that was all it took for him to go off course. He plowed into the pile of snow, leaving a cartoonish impression. Catherine skated past him with a laugh.

They went home soon after that, and Ultron could tell she was a little more at ease with him. He himself had acted like a stiff for most of the time, and didn't understand why she was so smiley now. But so long as he knew she wouldn't be in any position to rat him out, he was fine with whatever she would make him do. He hadn't enjoyed himself, but it had been an interesting experience. He was finding Catherine to be more likeable. Also more annoying with her unrelenting optimism.

Catherine herself didn't know what to do now. She knew he felt nothing towards the outing. In fact she still didn't know if he any true emotions at all. It seemed like he did though. He seemed angry most of the time. He wasn't angry when they were on the ice though. He didn't seem like he had had fun, but he wasn't angry so that was a plus. She was just happy he had participated at all. She had been nervous at first, but she was feeling better now. In a day or two she would try something else to draw out his good side.

She had four people drop by that day due to engine trouble. Six more people wanted snow tires. She kept all of her tires and spare parts in her back yard, which looked more like a junk yard. The tires were in a large shed to keep them safe from the weather. She had plenty of tires, enough to last her a while. But she would need to order more soon. Most people had their own snow tires, and just paid for her switch them out. But the other half of the town needed new tires. It wasn't her favorite thing to do, changing tires, but it brought in some good money.

At the end of the day Catherine counted up her wad and totaled sixteen hundred for that day.

"I'm going to need you to buy all of this." Ultron handed her a note. She was sitting on a stood at her kitchen counter. Catherine took the note and frowned.

"I'm not getting you this stuff." She tried to hand the list back to him but he wouldn't take it. It would cost her a few thousand to get everything on that list. "I don't even know what half of these things are."

"Just some helpful tools." He shrugged. Catherine squinted her eyes at him. She looked at the list again.

"You want to make explosives." She wrinkled her nose.

"Well, what you call explosives I call . . . . yeah, explosives." Ultron took the wad of cash from her hand, and Catherine tried to grab it back. He flipped through the thin material, examining it. "You'll need more than this."

"I'm aware." Catherine snatched her money back. "And I'm not helping you blow up a city. It's not part of the deal."

"The deal is what I want it to be, now," He grabbed her arm, pulling her from the seat. "Let's go get some business."

Catherine put on her winter clothes begrudgingly, and followed Ultron to the door. He had on the sheet, in his hands was a box of tools. As he opened the door, the cool night air swept into her house. Catherine didn't like where any of this was going. She was supposed to show him the good side of humanity, yet here he was about to do just the opposite.

"We are not breaking cars!" She hissed at him, but followed him outside anyways. She didn't want to know what he would do to her if she disobeyed.

"It's just a little business revenue." He replied in a hushed tone. There were still a few houses that had their lights on, and the street lamps had also turned on as well. "And their cars will be fixed in no time. Nobody gets hurt."

"It's against the law." Catherine glanced back at her house, wanting nothing more than to just go back inside. She had never been one to do anything bad.

"That's why we aren't going to get caught." Ultron would have rolled his eyes. "Now here," He shoved the tool box her way. "you go that way, I'll go this way. Don't hit every car, just one every couple of blocks." Catherine was looking at him with disbelief. She watched as he walked away, disappearing with the snow. She looked at the toolbox.

"Forget this." She felt angry. Heading back home, she waiting for him to come back. She wasn't going to break the law for him.

When he came back, her sheet was scuffed with black, and Ultron's hands were black as well. He stopped at her front door, face turned to stare at her.

"You didn't do anything." He said matter of factly.

"I'm not going to vandalize people's property just to make a quick buck." Catherine was at her counter once again. She'd been waiting there. Ultron paused.

"How sweet." He walked past her, but stopped as he was near her. "Maybe there is some good in you." As he walked away into the garage, Catherine wondered if it was just a test he had put her up to.

"You didn't really break any cars, did you?" Catherine asked.

"You should be expecting four customers in the morning." Was his reply.

. . .

I had a comment saying the story is moving a bit fast. I know this, and if it is really bothersome I can slow it down. Trust me, I know how to go slow. My other story is unbelievably slow paced. I just wanted to try a different style with this story. Something a bit more light hearted, fun and quick paced. Nothing too complicated or boring.

But if anyone is ever feeling like things are too fast and don't like how the story is going, I'm always up for some good critical reviews. This writing is unlike what I usually do, so feedback is always nice. So yes, please tell me if something is bugging you, I will try to fix it.

Review please! :)


	4. Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See?

…

Catherine sipped at a large spoonful of hot soup. The door to the garage was opened and she had just enough vision to glare at the robotic man inside. Indeed, four customers with engine problems had shown up that day. Others just once again, wanted tires. She had many people stop by that day for tires, she sure it was the last of the wave of people who wanted them. All the others had come earlier in the week, before the robot man had shown up. Some people were just late to hear about the weather.

Seymour's mews made her glance down, and he rubbed against her leg. She ignored the cat, and went back to staring at Ultron. Even with the soup, she had a bitter taste left in her mouth. She had felt awful for the four people who had come in. Of course she couldn't tell them the real reason their cars wouldn't start. She had to sit through it and fix it like she always did.

So she stared blatantly at Ultron, glaring at him. He himself was currently fiddling around with his insides. He had careful removed some parts to get a look at what was inside. And inside was a blue core. It was small and broken. Its crack slowly leaking whatever it carried inside. Ultron was assessing how to fix it. Finally he gave up, not wanting to damage the precious part any further, and put back on his beaten plating. His right arm, Catherine had noticed, didn't have full moving capacity. It could not go back, and didn't seem to want to go up to far either.

Two days passed and she had more customers with the same engine problems.

"You can't keep doing this." Catherine said one day. Ultron glanced at her.

"Doing what?" He asked innocently.

"Dismantling these cars!" She pointed at the truck she was working on. "People are going to catch on sooner or later."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Ultron waved it off.

"I'll stop making them pay." She narrowed her eyes at him. He stiffened, that is if a robot could possibly stiffen. "All engine troubles that I find will be free. No charge what-so ever."

Ultron looked at her, seeing her daring expression. It was almost unbelievable that she was standing up to him. He set down his work.

"You have enough money now anyways. We will leave in three days." He decided. Catherine didn't like that he was ordering her around, but she thought it better than for him to keep vandalizing cars.

She bit her lip. "Alright."

Catherine's car was fixed, and was ready for snow weather. The only problem was that she would have to get a new battery soon. She looked at the green truck. She was rather tired and didn't feel like working on the truck any longer, at least not for the night. Wiping her hands, she began to put away her tools but found herself looking at Ultron. She frowned.

"What was that in your chest?" She thought about the other night. "If you don't mind me asking."

Ultron continued piecing together his master piece, but he gave her a small glance. "My core reactor." He said simply.

"It seemed broken." Catherine stood beside him, looking at his chassis.

"It is." He didn't stop his building. She looked at the table. On it were many things, sprawled around everywhere. She couldn't make out what any of it meant.

"How are you going to fix it?" Catherine asked. Ultron stopped now and looked at her, pausing.

"I will need your help." Catherine looked up and down his blank face. "But not yet." Ultron looked up and down her blank face. "That is, if you are willing."

Catherine blinked, it was the first thing he had said that she actually had a choice in. Looking away, she stared at his project.

"We'll see." She replied. If he continued his bad habits, she wouldn't. Perhaps if she could change him though, she would.

Ultron himself had decided that putting the trust factor into play would be the best option. It was obvious that forcing her to do things would not be a plausible option. She had defied him quite blatantly by refusing to aid him in his minorly criminal activity. If she said no then, she would say no again. For a human, Catherine had turned out to be okay so far. Nothing about her was extraordinary, and she was mostly mild. He liked this. And while she flared up sometimes, it was just because he had pushed her to do so. He now had a feeling that he would know how to expect her to react to certain situations. Not all situations, he would need to test that later, but a few for now.

It was her normality that most intrigued him. He wondered what her background was, but of course without the use of the internet he could not find out. The only way for him to know, was if she told him herself. He doubted that would ever happen. Whatever her story, it definitely wasn't a tragedy like his last companions. She wasn't broken, wasn't furious, and nothing was burning. She was a simple person who led a simple life. She had hopes of changing his mind, and for this she was ignorant.

He looked at her, and saw she was thinking deeply. Probably about him.

"You know, it's rude to stare." He would have smiled. Catherine jumped.

"Oh, sorry." She tried to look anywhere but him, her eyes gaining focus again. "I totally just spaced out there."

"No worries." He replied. He looked to his project. Everything in him wanted to continue, wanted to finish. But he needed to have her on his side. He needed her for a small, but none the less important step. So he set aside his project for now.

"How's that car battery holding you up?" She asked.

"It was just a little charge to get the reactor more active again." He answered.

"I could always get you a couple ace batteries if you need more power." Catherine walked around him. Ultron gave a brisk laugh. Catherine smiled as well. "You know, if you aren't too bust right now, I could show you some more human wonders." She offered. Ultron grinned inside, it was amazing how fast a little warmth in his voice got her to relax when not moments ago she had been quite angry. This was going to be easy.

"I don't see why not. It is part of our deal after all." He replied.

"Great! I'll go put on some thicker clothes, you get that sheet on." Catherine was excited to be able to show him more. The AI watched as she left a little happier.

Ultron met her at the door, both of them ready to go out. Catherine checked to see if anyone was out. Down the block and in the hazy distance of a light snow fall, she could see someone walking their dog. But that was all. Stepping out of the house, she gestured for Ultron to follow.

"If anyone comes around, I want you to just walk away. I'll probably get caught in a conversation and I don't want you getting found." Catherine advised him. Ultron held back a snort. He was smart enough on his own to know how to not be seen, and her telling him what to do was undermining his intelligence. To keep on the good side he now desired to have though, he kept his mouth shut.

"Where are we going exactly?" He asked. "Not that I have any place to be, just asking."

"In town." Catherine replied.

"A bit low key, don't you think?" Ultron would have raised a brow had his face been able to move.

"It's the low key stuff that matters, in my opinion." She said with a certain kindness to her voice.

"I suppose that's why you live in such a small, low key, town?" He assumed.

"The city had its perks, but it just wasn't for me." Catherine shrugged.

Ultron thought it strange that out of the things to do and show him, for their second trip out she took him to the simple town. He had been in towns before, he had never been impressed truly. He wondered why she thought seeing her dinky little town would make any difference on him. As they walked into the town however, he realized something. It didn't. His opinion on it didn't change what so ever.

"I feel the need to ask you why you think taking me here will do you any good. Except in letting everyone else see me." He said almost boredly.

"Look around you," Catherine herself was looking around. "What do you see?"

Ultron sighed, but did as told. He scanned the area and didn't know what exactly he was supposed to be looking for.

"A grocery store, a coffee shop, a candy-" He began to list, but Catherine cut him short.

"Wrong. Well, right. But wrong." She shook her head.

"Well, what do you want me to look at?" He was getting annoyed, and did his best to hide it.

"These are people running honest businesses. Every day people living their lives. Each life is unique." She smiled. "See, look over there." She pointed into the café. Jim was inside, but the shop was closed. He was cleaning the floors and tables. Ultron recognized the car parked outside and connected it to Jim.

"You fixed that man's car." He stated.

"I did." Catherine agreed. "But do you know who he is personally?" She asked.

"Of course not." Ultron felt her questions to be pointless.

"He's a man with three young kids and a wife. He's lived here for seven years, and comes from Vancouver. He's a good guy who has lots of friends, and a nice family." She explained. Ultron felt himself frowning inside. "Now look over there." She pointed across the street to a woman getting in a car.

Ultron vented. "Alright, who is she?"

"Martha Baker. She is a dentist who has lived here her whole life. She has two kids who have grown up and have kids of their own. She beat cancer and is leading a happy life now." Catherine told him. Ultron didn't understand why she was telling him about all of these people.

"The point?" He pressed.

"These are normal people. Most people. There are very few who do bad things. Look me in the eye, and tell me that these people deserve to die." She stared at him. Ultron didn't respond.

Ultron didn't hate humans. In fact, he had found friendship before in Pietro and Wanda. It had been by complete accident that Pietro ended the way he did, and thinking upon it made him feel . . . . Guilty. It was an odd feeling for him, but it was true. He couldn't single out those two she had just talked about, and say they deserved to die. They didn't as far as he knew. Many didn't. But the overall bad of humans was still present. Ultron began to grow frustrated with himself. A person was good, but people are bad.

"Let's go back." He finally said. Catherine held in a smile, feeling a bit victorious.

Ultron scowled, perhaps she was a little less dumb than he had thought.

…

All of you are so nice, wow. Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments! I tried to respond to most of you, but I couldn't get all of you. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. And again, if you have any ideas, or anything you want to see that involves some fun with showing our big sassy robo babe how good humans really are, go ahead and say it! I'll be more than happy to put it in the story!

Review please! :) at the green truck. She was rather tired


	5. Is it a color?

. . .

Catherine narrowed her eyes at her dishwasher. Her long lashes covering her gaze to the point where it looked like she was closing her eyes. She couldn't remember if she had run the dish washer or not. The door was open, so the light to tell her if she had run it was off. Everything was dry inside, but nothing looked too dirty. She didn't have any recollection of running it though. She pursed her lips.

Deciding to go the safer rout, she grabbed the soap and put some in before turning the washer on.

"Try again." Ultron walked past her. Catherine groaned, turning off the dish washer. As she began to unload everything, she glanced over to Ultron who had turned on the TV and was now soaking in the comforts of her couch.

"What are you doing?" She asked. Ultron didn't bother to look at her as he flipped to channel five.

"Watching the news." He stretched back into the softness of the furniture. Catherine growled softly under her breath, but said nothing of it. She didn't want his sharp, broken metal to rip her cushions.

Ultron ignored whatever it was she didn't say, and listened intently to the news anchor. Since he no longer had direct internet access, he had to rely on other means of getting information. He had tried logging into her laptop earlier, but had found a password to block him. He could have easily plugged himself into it and gone through, but she had walked in on him and he set it down quickly. He could get into it later. For now the television was fine.

He had to sit through some things that uninterested him, until finally something of concern was brought up. He sat up straight and leaned forwards to have his elbows relax upon his knees as the man on the station began to speak again.

"Following up on the devastation that occurred in Sokovia, charges against Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries, have been made in the part he played for the destruction of the city." The anchor reported. Catherine sat down on the couch now as well, away from where Ultron was seated. However his weight made her a bit lopsided and she did her best to lean away instead of towards him.

The news cut to a segment of reporters flooding around the famous Tony Stark, who was now becoming quite infamous. Reporters all around rushed out their questions to him. "Stark! There are rumors you created Ultron, are they true?" "Were your machines truly alive? Or were they just programming?" "Did you program them to kill?" And many other questions. Tony had a highly agitated look on his face as he tried to brush through the crowd and into his work space. Finally he was forced to stop. He looked a camera, sun glasses hiding his eyes.

"The Ultron program was a mistake. A mistake we fixed." He said coldly.

"What was the programs original initiative?" One reporter asked. Tony looked over in the general area of the question.

"Peace." He turned around, pushing his way into the building. Questions flared up again. The loudest of all was, "What went wrong?"

Ultron turned off the TV, got up, and left. Catherine watched him stalk into the garage.

He was angry. What about, he didn't know. But suddenly there was a familiar feeling of rage inside of him. It burned at his core and made him frustrated. Not wanting to cause a scene, he swiftly went into the garage to take his pent up anger out on denting some metal into shape. He hammered out what was part of a car door, tearing off its outside and bending it to his needs. _Just programming_. The words rung through his head. _What went wrong?_

Ultron heard Catherine walk in, footsteps light. He kept his back to her. Catherine herself was feeling nervous. His reaction was quite unexpected and she didn't know how to take it.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked. Ultron could hear her caution. He turned his head slightly to look at her in a sign to go on, but said nothing himself. "Do you not like Stark?" She asked. It was obvious, of course he didn't. He had fought against him. But that wasn't really the question. It was of a subtle way of asking, _why does he hate Stark_.

"He is a fool. Arrogant and Ignorant." He slammed down on the metal sheet.

Catherine hummed lightly. Ultron turned his body now, to look at her fully. She was thinking about to say next. She didn't want to say anything to get him anymore angry. He might do something drastic if she pushed his buttons. Ultron was thankful for her caution. He remembered the last time someone mentioned Stark to him, and he had clumsily ripped off the same man's arm. He felt he had better control of himself than he did then, but he still didn't want to get carried away again.

"You know what always makes me feel better when I'm upset?" She began.

"No."

"I like getting something done. It makes me feel good." Catherine tried to smile. "Come on, let's get something done."

Ultron watched as she disappeared back into the house. He followed her, and saw her pick up his note off the counter. Putting on his sheet, he would have frowned at the black marks it now had on it from car oil. They weren't a large issue however, and he chose to ignore it. He continued to follow her as she put on a hat a coat and some boots. Grabbing her car keys and wallet, she walked outside, the metal man still right behind her. As she got into the driver's seat, he got into the passengers.

"So I have no idea where you think we are going to find any of this, so just tell me where to go." She looked at him.

Ultron sighed. "Let's switch seats."

They did and soon they were out of town. It was getting dark out, it usually was dark when he was outside. Best way to remain hidden.

"These things better cheer you up. I don't want a grumpy killer walking around my house." Catherine joked. Ultron found the humor to be odd and only gave her a sideways glance. Catherine kept quiet after that.

He really did find her to be an odd one. Her awkwardness with him was ever present, but he could see her trying to make the best out of a bad situation. He absolutely refused to pay mind to the fact that he actually thought over what she had explained to him the previous night. Her opinions on an individual drove him insane. It was really for his own best that he shoved that entire conversation side.

"You know, I'm feeling better already." He offered a light topic. Catherine perked up.

"Well um, that's good." She tried to sound happy. She wasn't.

"Doesn't sound like are though." Ultron glanced back at the road before looking to her again.

"Oh you know, helping someone kill the entire world can have a bit of a negative effect on your attitude." She sighed.

"Don't you remember? Your part is to change my mind." He said humorously. Catherine didn't laugh however. He still knew the only reason she put up with him at all was for the small hope that she might actually be able to persuade him to change his ways. Of course Ultron knew this would never happen, and found it funny that she even took up trying. There was also the fact that she believed he was still in control of other bodies. However, he doubted she actually bought into that lie.

"Ah don't feel too discouraged. You're doing a great job." Ultron tried now to cheer _her_ up. She gave him a sideways look. "No really!" She wasn't buying it. Ultron shrugged. "Alright then. Pout, see what I care."

"Sorry. I think your crappy mood put me in one." She groaned, sliding down in her seat. He looked at her, assessing.

"There's this game, it's on the tip of my tongue," He snapped his fingers, taking a hand off the wheel. Catherine gave him a strange look. "Not twister. Uh, help me out here."

"Well I don't know where you are going off of twister . . . ." She pressed her lips in a flat line.

"Neither do I." He admitted. "Oh! Twenty questions!" He prided himself in remembering.

"That's nothing like Twister." Catherine held up her hands, and looked around, pretending to look at other people to share her confusion with.

"Yeah I'm not sure why I thought of that one, anyways, you up for it?" He said. Catherine stared at him, jaw open. "What? What does that mean? Is that a yes? I can't tell. Looks more like a no."

"Did you hit your head or something?" She stared at him like he was insane.

"Very funny." He stated.

"No I'm serious, there must be something wrong with that robot brain of yours." She leaned towards him, examining his skull.

"You never answered my question." He said.

"Alright, fine. Let's play twenty questions." Catherine couldn't believe he had actually offered to play a game. She wondered what kind of questions he would ask. "What are we going for here, personal, or like the kind where I think of an animal and you have to guess it."

"Personal." He said. "Makes it a bit more exiting, don't you think?"

"Only yes or no questions." Catherine put in. "So we don't have to explain anything on an uncomfortable level." Ultron nodded in agreement. "Ten each. You go first."

"You don't honestly like that ratty haired thing you call a pet do you?" He blurted out like he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Yes." She snorted. "I love him very much. My turn." She tried to think of something good. "What's your favorite color?"

Ultron stared at her. If he had his normal body, he would have been given her a look that told her how stupid she was. "That wasn't yes or no." He said. Catherine hit her forehead. "And that wasn't even a good question in the first place.

"I panicked!" She defended herself. "Let me try again." She readjusted her shoulders and closed her eyes in deep thought. "Is there anything about life on Earth you do like?" She asked.

"See now that's a good question. You just need to use your head a little more. Millions of years of evolution has all lead up to you asking my favorite color." He rubbed salt into the wound.

"It's a common 'get to know you' question." Catherine frowned, feeling embarrassed. "Now answer my question, yes or no."

"Yes."

Catherine was a bit surprised about his answer. Of course there would be no elaboration on it, but at least she knew there was something he liked.

"You seem to see the good in a lot of things. But tell me, do you also see the bad?" He asked. Catherine felt that this easy game would quickly turn into something more like Russian roulette.

"Yes." She answered briskly. He seemed to dwell on her answer. She didn't like that.

"You're a robot, so I'm wondering, are your emotions actually true?" She had to ask. She really felt like they were, but it was something that she needed to hear.

"Yes." He answered. He felt they were at least. And if he could feel anything at all, that proved in itself his emotions were real and valid.

"Do you have a family?" He asked. Catherine was taken back a little. She wondered what he wanted to know about her family, and suddenly was feeling a bit on edge about the question. She answered anyways, but guarded.

"Yes."

"I know it won't take you a full six months to build what it is that are you making. Will you continue to stay after you are done?" She asked. Ultron seemed to hesitate. It was something he had debated with himself.

". . . . Yes." He finally said. Catherine didn't know if she should feel relived or not. On one hand, that is if he was telling the truth, she would have more time to show him the good side of humanity. On the other hand, she would still have to put up with Ultron.

"Do you like your family?" Ultron wasted no time in asking. Now it was Catherine's turn to pause. Ultron took her delayed response into consideration. Perhaps she wasn't as perfect as she seemed.

After a while she finally spoke. "Yes."

"Do you hate the avengers?" She asked. Ultron almost laughed at the stupidity of the question.

"Yes." He said immediately.

"Did you move from the city because you actually like country life better?" He asked.

"No." It was the first no answer they had had. Ultron looked at her now, the mystery of who she was beginning to peel away, piece by piece.

"Do you like people?" Catherine asked. Ultron could sense a trend in her questions now, and wondered where she was going with it. He didn't answer at first. Did he like people? There certainly were people he liked, but did he actually like people? He felt stumped.

"No." He finally said. He didn't like people. He didn't like humans. That was his finally decision on the matter.

"Did you always want to be a mechanic?" Ultron felt curious. She didn't seem like the type to plunge her hands deep down into machinery.

"No." She seemed to think about it as well. It was as if she was looking back on her life. Ultron wondered what was going through her mind. She pulled herself out of her thoughts though, and looked at Ultron.

"Do you like me?" She asked.

Ultron looked at her, glad to be hidden behind the faceless drone. He enjoyed the company, however annoying and stupid she could be. She really wasn't awful to be around. She wasn't like the twins, who he shared in a common goal with. He and Catherine were opposites. He'd never really understood what the human saying, "opposites attract," meant besides on a scientific level, but he thought he knew now.

"Yes." He finally concluded. Catherine seemed to brighten up a bit then. They hadn't reached ten questions each, but it was good enough for both of them and they silently decided to stop there. They drove for a bit in silence, Catherine feeling a bit more victorious in the game than Ultron did, even with her bad start in it.

"I still want to know what your favorite color is." She said.

"It's green."

. . .

I just have to say you all are so nice. I'm always so happy when I read your comments, and I try to respond to most of them. There are a few of you who aren't on accounts though, so for those of you who are guests, here we go:

Guests:

Avengerfan: I tried to take up your advice, IG agree that I should add some interactions. Little bit of chit chat and other bonding things. I meant to do this before, and I don't know why I didn't. It's good to have that little push to do so, otherwise I might have put it off for too long. I hope this chapter had some good cute robot talk in it :)

Doll: Character development is something that takes time. It's not going to happen right away, and really the entire story itself is about the development of Ultron, as "To Be Human" implies. Or well, I hope it implies that. Also for longer chapters, I've decided not to do that. I've already said why in my authors note in chapter 2, but I'll say it again. I'm keeping short chapters because I want to post more frequently. I have another story where chapters are long, and take a few weeks to write. I wanted to try something different and post every couple of days if I could, instead of posting once a month. With posts that are too spaced out, people forget what happened and lose interest in the story.

I love hearing all of your feedback! It's good to take things in to consideration and thank you to all who comment. Also just thanks for reading.

Review please! :)


	6. What a BUMmer

…

It was the perfect way for her to end. Ultron wouldn't face anymore problems, with the correct materials available now, he was almost done with creating his masterpiece. With Catherine out of the picture, it would only speed things up. There would be no evidence that linked him to her and he could remain a ghost among the world. All he had to do was let her freeze.

He couldn't though. He had even admitted to her, he liked her. They weren't friends, but something a little less. More than acquaintances now though.

It was around midnight now, and it had taken them several hours to get all he needed. Catherine's wallet was dry. Not even a dollar left over. The back of her car was filled with expensive materials. Lots of it being heavy metal, strong and sturdy. Pure titanium. It's what sucked most of the money from her wallet. There were wires and tubes, spark plugs and high end oils. Powders, magnets and lenses were also included in the list among many other things.

But now they sat in the midst of an oncoming blizzard. The snow had been getting thicker, and Catherine admitted she hadn't been checking up on the weather lately. The car broke down on their way home, the battery failing. Catherine sat shivering in the passenger seat, slowly getting colder and colder without the comfort of the heater. Ultron was outside in the snow, pushing the car. Catherine would have called a tow, had it not been for the fact that Ultron broke her phone.

She cursed the robot silently, it was all his fault that any of this was happening.

"I'm f-f-f-f-freezing." It took her many tries to spit out the words. She had grabbed the spare blanket she kept in the trunk for just a case like this. It wasn't the first time she had been stuck in a storm. It was just the first time she had been stuck without any communication.

"I'm aware of that." Ultron shouted from outside. Catherine could hardly hear him over the harsh wind that blew over the car.

The intense cold was wearing down the already weakened body Ultron was forced to live with. He didn't know how long he could stay out in the frigid weather, but he needed to at least get Catherine somewhere warm. He knew for a fact that was a gas station and motel a few miles up, just outside a city. They had driven past it before. They didn't have any money, but he didn't think they would refuse her. He was pushing the car at a steady speed, like someone speed walking, or a brisk jog. It was easy for him.

It wasn't long before he had pushed the car to where they needed to be. Opening the side door, he helped the freezing woman out of the car. She shuttered away from his touch, it was even colder than she was seeing as he had been windblown and snowed upon. Ultron traded places with her, taking up her seat in the car. He couldn't go in, and the car itself was enough protection against the cold climate for him. He kept an eye on Catherine as she stiffly walked into the motel office.

There was no one at the counter, but the door was open and Catherine immediately began to soak in the warmth of the buildings heat. She stood there for a moment, enjoying air that didn't have ice in it. Finally though, she made a move to tap the ringer on the front desk. There was the noise of a chair scooting, and feet briskly walking before a woman appeared from the back area.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The woman was shorter than Catherine, but then again most women were. Catherine herself stood at around five ten. The petit girl had dark brown hair and large glasses. She was younger than Catherine as well, probably around twenty five. Catherine was thirty two. The girl held a book in her hand.

"My car broke down." Catherine was still shivering. The girl looked around Catherine and outside, to see a car sitting a little ways away. It was mostly a dark outline against the black forest.

"I see." She blinked. "Well, rooms are twenty dollars a night."

"I don't have any money." Catherine said a bit desperately. The younger woman frowned.

"Well I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do for you then." She shrugged, turning away. Catherine panicked a little, not wanting to go back out in the cold.

"Please, can I just stay here? I could just wait the storm out in this room." She pleaded.

The brown haired girl seemed to think. "I'll take it up with my boss to see if I can get you a room." She offered. Catherine felt a wave of relief. This was soon extinguished however when not long after, a man her height with a large belly and receding hair line came out to the front.

"I don't take free loaders. I get enough bums around here, now go!" He shooed her away. Catherine felt offended, but most of all she felt cold. With a huff, she turned back outside and walked to the car that was still sitting by the highway. Opening the door, she looked at Ultron who was sitting in her seat.

"What happened?" He asked.

"They called me a bum." She was feeling cold and angry. Ultron didn't move for a moment. Then after a long pause, he got up and walked past her and into the cold. Catherine watched him, but when a gust of wind picked up she retreated into the car for safety. A minute later, Ultron was back.

"Come on." He said. Catherine followed him to the motel again. They didn't go to the front desk however, and went straight to a room. The door knob was broken. Usually Catherine would have complained about him doing something like this, but all she felt was grateful at the moment.

She turned on the heater to full blast and gathered all the blankets from the two small beds in the room and piled them into one big cushiony mess. Ultron watched as she slunk under all the sheets until she had vanished completely. He stared at the lump of covers and blankets for a while, but there was no movement. Growing a bit of concern, he got up and moved to the bed. Lifting up the covers, he peeked under and came face to face with Catherine who gave him a sour look.

"Put them back down, it was just starting to get toasty."

Ultron woke her up in the morning, before the sun came up. They hurried outside, Catherine making sure to take her blanket with her, and made a hasty get away. The storm was still raging but less so. But they both were feeling better. Ultron pushed the car back to her house, and the ordeal took about an hour and a half.

The first thing Catherine did was feed her cat, who hadn't had his dinner last night. Ultron unloaded his things from the back of the car. The sun was just coming up now and after feeding Seymour, Catherine collapsed on the couch, too tired to move to the bed. She slept like a lump on a log, even with all of the noise coming from the garage.

She had her common dream.

It was a sweet dream which usually turned bitter in the end. The beginning was always the same. It was summer, and the tall green grass surrounded a rectangular clearing. Small tents and tables were put up around the area, and music filled the air. There was a lot of people, all of whom were dancing. Catherine was near the middle of it all, dancing as well. It was a bit old fashioned, the girls wore frilly, fluffy dresses and the men in their tuxes. It was night, but the place was lit well.

Something always ruined the fun. It was never the same ending, but something always happened.

But in her dream, Catherine had all but forgotten about the unhappy endings, and danced away. Laughing, smiling, twirling and jumping. It was all noise, all fun. That was until everyone around her turned to metal. Their dancing stopped and within a blink the fun was over. The music had gone, and the robots around her stood row by row. Catherine felt a chill run up her spine, and suddenly she was very cold. A clawed hand grabbed her arm and she spun around to scream.

Her eyes flew open and she breathed heavily. She still felt cold, and taking a deep breath she got up to see she had left the kitchen window open a crack. The wind outside had changed directions and was now blowing directly into her house. Sluggishly, she went over to close it.

"I didn't think you'd ever get up." Catherine almost jumped to the ceiling at the sound of Ultron's voice. Turning around she placed a hand over her heart and exhaled deeply.

"Damn it Ultron, don't sneak up on me like that." She closed her eyes to calm her nerves.

"I didn't mean to." He examined her. Something was wrong. She wasn't one to swear too often, and when she did it was usually because she was flustered and skittish. Which she was right now. He wondered if he had done something he was unware about.

Seymour walked up to the two, and rubbed up against the metal man. When Ultron moved his leg however, the cat hissed at the suddenly moving piece of furniture. Catherine picked up her cat and pet it, kissing its forehead. Ultron disapproved.

Catherine wondered if she was making the right decision. Her dream woke her up. She was just helping him do what he wanted. She couldn't change his mind. She was suddenly feeling very lost and exhausted. She didn't know what he was making, probably some doomsday device. She was helping progress her own death, everyone's death.

She hugged Seymour closer to her body.

Ultron was feeling lost as well. He was feeling worried if he had done anything to upset her. That only made him agitated. He was actually feeling worried about the feelings of this human. Yes he admitted he liked her as a person, yes he found the companionship to be nice, but no he would not start caring. He only needed her for one thing, then he would leave. That was the logical decision for him to make after all.

Right?

Both of them stood staring dumbly at each other, lost in their own thoughts. It was only when Seymour meowed that they snapped out of it.

. . .

That was more of just a fluff chapter than anything. I just needed them to get those materials, and really that was it. I hope it was okay. Not a lot happened and there was little dialog, really it was just to keep you guys and myself occupied while I was thinking about future chapters. I do have plans now for the next few chapters. Anyways, prepare for upcoming cuteness! All aboard the robot train! Choo choo!

I don't know about you guys, but I personally get recurring dreams that always slightly change due to circumstances that I'm in. Maybe that's just a weird me thing, but I thought I'd give Catherine one too. Personally my recurring dream involves a big building and there's all these rooms and some weird guy and a few bears . . . . yea.

And hey, if you guys want to check out another story, my personal suggestion is Technicality by Frieza's Masquerade. So if you haven't read it, go! What are you still doing here? Shoo! There's a great story out there for you to read! Stop sitting here like a dope and get off this page and read it! Seriously why are you still reading me rant on? Go! Now! Do it! I'm warning you, you better stop reading this. Three. Two. One. SCAT CAT!

Review please! :)


	7. insert cool title here

. . .

It had been three days since Catherine's own car broke down, again. Not like she needed to go anywhere. She did want to fix it up, but business was booming and she had no time to switch out her own battery. She needed to earn some money again as quickly as she could. Her bills depended on it. Ultron was busy enough as well. Things were moving much fast for him now that he had the right tools and materials. He really could have just taken it, but that would have required killing and he didn't want to get caught, not yet. His weak body also might not be able to support that kind of activity. Catherine herself paid little mind to what he did, and instead only focused on her work. The blizzards had stopped, and there wouldn't be anymore. Not for a while. According to the weather channel, it would be another week or two before another large storm. It was going to be a dreadful thing though. Worse than all the others. All over the area, everyone was getting ready to be shut inside and locked away from the bad weather.

Catherine had put a pause on her conversations with Ultron. Her dream had left her feeling queasy for days. It wasn't actually the dream, but more or less just thought of what he was inevitably going to do.

Ultron was in a better mood than her. He would be done by morning if he worked through the night, then would come the hard part. He would have to plan out the scheme carefully, but first he would need to take it up with Catherine.

While he was enjoying the time he had to finish his creation, he also found it odd that she had not dragged him out of the house in a few days. In the little time that he had known her, he became accustomed to her making him see normal human things. It didn't really matter to him though, it just meant he had more time to do what he wanted. He would be gone soon.

There was a scream and a thud from the back of the house, and Ultron stopped what he was doing. Looking back to the door, he stared at it for a moment. All was quiet. He decided to investigate. Walking through the home, he checked the bedroom. No one was there. He turned around and entered the bathroom, still nothing. Across the bathroom was another door that held within it the laundry room. The door was opened a little already, and pushing it further he saw Catherine on the floor.

Bubbles where everywhere, spilling out of the washing machine. Catherine looked up at him.

"I think I might have put too much soap in." She said sheepishly.

Later that afternoon the mess was cleaned up and they were both back in the garage. Catherine now kept throwing looks over to Ultron. She could ignore him before, but now he was intriguing her. He was putting the titanium on the husk of wires and parts. It was starting to look like something now.

"You're making another body." She stated. Ultron gave her a glance.

"Yes. I can hardly stand to be living in this shell for any longer." He realized what he had said, but it was too late. He had already said it. Catherine had her suspicions but now she had been proved right.

"This is your last drone isn't it?" She stood beside him now.

Ultron hesitated. "It is but that doesn't matter now." Catherine looked at the new form.

"Well it certainly is shiny." She admitted. She looked to the right and saw a large black box. It wasn't hers. "What's that?" She reached out to touch it.

Ultron turned sharply. "Don't touch it." Catherine retracted her hand. "It's for emergencies only." He turned back to connect some wires into a plug.

"I suppose I should give your kind some credit for having to put up with being stuck in just one form." Ultron absolute hated having to be confined to one body. "It's absolutely dreadful."

"It's not so bad." Catherine shrugged.

Ultron stared at her. "No, it's really quite bad." He insisted.

Catherine laughed a little. She stopped shortly though and gazed down sadly at the new body. She had been in a slump of sadness for three days. But she remembered suddenly. He liked her. If she could get him to like her, then why couldn't she get him to like everyone?

Feeling better from herself pick up, Catherine started to smile.

"Oh god." Ultron saw the grin. "Catherine, no."

"Catherine, yes." She gave him a mischievous look. "Don't worry, I'm not going to make _you_ do anything."

"That doesn't mean I will like it anymore." His tone was flat. Catherine rolled her eyes.

"I'll be right back."

She left him and after a few minutes he could hear her closing the front door. He turned back to his work, but not long after giggled and screams filled with laughter began to come from outside the house. He ignored it at first, but he knew it had something to do with Catherine so with an exasperated sigh, he went into the house and looked out the kitchen window to the front yard.

The street was teaming with flying snow balls. The clumps of waded ice and water were being tossed in every direction.

Ultron watched unamused. He didn't understand the reasoning behind what Catherine was doing and why it would help her case. With crossed arms he waiting, wanting nothing except to go back and finish his body.

A snow ball hit the glass in front of his face. Looking at where it came from, he saw Catherine. She waved at him. He didn't respond. She ran over to the house, and coming in she was smiling and laughing, covered with snow.

"Well that was a lot of nothing." He was feeling agitated.

"Wrong-o." She patted the snow off her arms. "You know what part of being a human is?" She smiled as she shook her boots and took them off.

Ultron sighed. "No."

"It's about the good times!" She said like it was supposed to be the most obvious thing in the world. "You wanting to take all this away, well that's just no good." She looked out the large window by the door and watched warm heartedly as the kids began to build forts to protect themselves from the rapid fire of snow. Ultron glanced at them all before looking back to Catherine.

"You mean well, you really do." He began. "But you are ignoring the flaws. The social faux pas, and its really quite appalling what humans do to each other. All the killing, all the evil." Catherin's smile was disappearing. "It might all start out good, but people always turn bad. You just don't see it, I'm doing the world a favor, I'm resetting it. It's going to have a new start, a better start! It's hard for you to see because it's only your instinct to thrive, but I can see what's truly best for the world." He turned away with that. Catherine was left to stand alone, feeling crushed.

Her little antics weren't going to be enough.

She needed to think of a way out.

She could start out with fixing her car. That could get her somewhere.

That night she changed out the battery to her car with one of the spares she had around. She had some clients pick up their cars. She needed to start saving her money, to get away when she needed to. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she needed to do something. She eventually went back to her original idea of going to Stark Tower. She decided the sooner the better. Maybe even in a couple of days.

She slept troubled throughout the night, and in the morning she began to plan. It was a poor plan that mainly just involved her going to New York and then just asking to see Tony Stark, but it was a plan none the less.

"Catherine, I need to ask something of you." Ultron had caution in his voice. He had made a mistake yesterday by ranting how he felt about the world. He needed to keep that to himself, at least until she did what he needed her to. He didn't know if she would help him now, what with seeing that she had no impact what so ever on him. Of course though, she had had her moments where Ultron began to question his motives. He pushed all of it aside as quickly as they came.

Catherine gave him a nervous look. "Like what?" She asked. She set down the clothes she was folding on her bed. He was standing in her door way, and she felt like he was blocking her from getting away.

"I need you to act as a, as a distraction." He said, thinking of a good way to put it. Catherine didn't reply, so he went on. "I only need one last part. There is only place to get it, Stark Tower." Catherine lit up a little.

"Why do you need my help? Why not just do it yourself?" She frowned at him. She was both in a good and bad situation. Good because she wanted to go there anyways, and with Ultron already there it would be just like handing Stark a present. Bad on the hand that she would once again be helping Ultron, which she was sick of.

"I simply need you to keep Stark occupied while I get what I need. With his eyes off the system, it will be fairly easy and no one needs to get hurt." He explained carefully. He didn't want to give away the depth of his weak state. He was worried for a moment however, when she gave him a blank stare. He thought she was going to say no.

"I'll do it." She finally said. "But you have to promise me that you won't destroy everything."

"I thought about your point yesterday. There really is some good in humanity, I could stand it for a bit longer." She saw right through his lie. However, he didn't see her lie.

"Alright, when do we leave?" She asked. Ultron was glad to have the blank face blocking her from seeing the grin he felt inside. He thought her truly stupid for doing this.

"I was thinking now."

. . .

Shortest chapter yet, but the next won't be.

Anyways, suggestions are still open about what you'd like to see as the reader. What is something you always wished to see Ultron do? What are some cute things you want to read? Come on, spit em out, I know there are at least some of you who have a cute idea to put our mechanical friend though.

Oh, I forgot to mention in the last two chapters, but I drew some Ultron sketches. Not the best, but I just needed to get it out of my system. There is a link to them on my Authors page if you are interested :)

Review please! :)


	8. NYAAA

…

Ultron felt like opening the door and rolling out of the car.

Catherine hadn't stopped singing for hours. Three to be exact. They still have three more hours left and he had no doubt that she could sing the rest of the way.

Her voice was absolutely dreadful. Ultron himself didn't have any taste in music, his mind was not like that of a humans. He could find something interesting, and could choose to like a song or tune, but his "brain" wasn't the same as a humans and music did not drive his emotions. It was simply a sound. However, Catherin's out of tune and off key _screaming_ was driving him insane.

"I pray every single day!" Catherine was in full swing. It was amazing how she managed to drive at the same time. She swayed her body from side to side and bobbed her head up and down, slapping her hands against the wheel. "Nyaaah!"

"For a revolution!" Ultron almost winced at how horrible it was. "And I say hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yay. Hey, yay, yay. I said hey, what's goin' on?"

Ultron reached from the back seat and turned it off.

"Hey!" Catherine shot him a glare.

"I'm not listening to a single more second of that."

Catherine frowned, and looked back to the road. She didn't like quiet car rides with other people. She could handle sitting in quiet, but not in a car. Car's needed sound in her opinion. And she didn't want to talk to him for three hours.

"After this do you think we can stop to get some soft pretzels? I have a craving like no other." She finally broke the ice. Ultron sighed from the back seat.

"Yes fine, so long as you can keep that huge mouth of yours shut for the rest of the car trip." He agreed.

Catherine shut her mouth. Not for pretzels, in fact that was just a hoax to get him as far away off her track as possible. He couldn't know that she would cross him. She was one step ahead of him in this game.

"Alright, what's the plan anyhow? I just barge in there and somehow hope to distract Tony while you do whatever it is your doing?" Catherine glanced in the rear view mirror.

"I'm going to get in the back way, in the mean time I will need you to tell the front receptionist that you have an appointment with Stark. You will be declined because obviously, you don't. That will give me enough time to upload myself into his system. I will book you an appointment. All I need you to do while you are with Stark is keep him from going into his lab." Ultron explained.

"Easy enough." Catherine shrugged.

"His lab is his office. The meeting will most likely start in the commons room."

"Commons room? Won't there be other people there? Seems a bit unprofessional to have a meeting there." She frowned.

"It's more private than that. More like a lounge. A good place to relax." Ultron rephrased. "Anyways, you'll no doubt start there. Once you present your ideas however, he will want to move to his office. You need to decline this."

"What will I be presenting exactly?" Catherine raised a brow. She looked behind her as she turned into the other lane before turning back to the road ahead of her. "I might be a mechanic, but I'm no inventor."

"Tony's a bit of a, well a philanthropist. Warm his heart up with some gushy good deeds and he'll fund it." Ultron made a gesture with hand.

"Alright, what I'm supposed to talk about?" Catherine had an overwhelming feeling growing inside of her.

"Talk about something that actually concerns you, to make it sound real." He tried to think of something she liked. "An animal shelter for things only you could possible love."

"Okay, what it is? Why don't you like my cat?" Catherine threw him a short look over her shoulder.

"It's a wreck! It shouldn't even still be alive, it's defective." He leaned back into the seat as he had been hunched over before.

"Only on the outside." Catherine replied in a calm tone. "Just because he's a little bit beat up, doesn't make him any less than anyone else . . . . Just like someone else I know." Ultron stared at her through the expressionless drone, head tilted. Catherine glanced back at him again with a quick flick of her eyes.

Ultron didn't reply and the rest of the three hours were quiet.

New York was looming over them in no time. Tall buildings, all shiny and all new. The most noticeable of them all was Stark tower. Catherine did frown at it now, realizing its new name was the Avengers tower. She didn't know if she would get used to the sound of that.

Catherine had to circle the block a few times to find a parking spot. Before she did though, she let Ultron out in a back alley near the tower. She ended up finding what she thought to be the luckiest parking spot in the world for being in New York. She stopped her car right across the street from the building.

She had on her nicest, formal clothing. A black pencil skirt, high heels, a white blouse with a short black coat over it. Her makeup was done to perfection. All of this had been advised by Ultron. She would need to look like real business for a meeting with Stark. She had originally pinned her hair up, but when she walked out of her room Ultron told her to put it down. It had been odd getting fashion tips from a robot, but she did what he told her to do none the less. She had to admit, she looked good.

Catherine made her way to where she had dropped him off, away from prying eyes. Walking into the shaded ally, she peered into it. It was nice as far as alley ways could go. The large buildings gave it a darker look, but the sun was shining and there was more than enough light to see. There were no puddles or trash lying about. It was well kept. She was about to call out for him, but he stepped out behind two dumpers before she could.

"Remember, you won't be in his schedule until I get you in. Don't let them kick you out before then." He told her. "Just talk a lot. You're good at that." Catherine gave him a face.

"Now," He said, stepping uncomfortably close to her. "I'm sorry." He apologized.

"For what?" She furrowed her brows.

"This." He grabbed her hand a squeezed it. Catherine let out a shout as he held her hand so tight she thought her bones would snap. Pulling away from him, she held her wrist close her to body, hugging it. She could hear loud footsteps run from around the corner of the ally. She looked up to see Ultron was gone, and a man in a black uniform was running to her.

"I heard a scream." The man said worriedly. Catherine looked past him to see Ultron sneaking around the building. She looked back at the man in front of her. He was a security guard, no doubt protecting a back door. Ultron's way in.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Ah," Catherine clenched and unclenched her hand, hissing with pain. "yeah, I'm fine." She shook out her arm.

"What happened?" He gave her an up and down look.

"I was just getting ready for my meeting when this guy jumped me. Stole my brief case." Catherine lies were like honey.

"What were you doing back here?" The guard blinked at her.

"Making a phone call, I needed somewhere quiet." She glanced behind her, as if to look for the fake thief.

"Do you want me to call the police? What way did he go?" He questioned.

"No its fine, I really need to get to my meeting anyways. I've been waiting months for this, I can't delay it." She figured Ultron was already inside the building by now. She needed to get inside too.

"Alright ma'am." He nodded. She nodded back. Turning away, she thought that'd been too easy. But perhaps the man just wasn't very bright.

She walked to the front of the large building, strolling into through the front doors. The lobby was large, and full of art she didn't understand. People moved busily about, papers and phones in hand. She stood in the middle of it all, a bit lost. Ultron had said it may take a little bit for him to get to an access point in the system, so she needed to stall some time. She walked around the large space, pointlessly looking at art while also trying to stay out of people's way. After a minute or so she decided that he must have gotten in by then. Going up to what she thought was the front desk, she stood awkwardly in front of a man around the age of thirty. She gave a brisk cough and he looked up.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" The receptionist asked.

"I have an appointment with Mr. Stark." Catherine tried not to show how nervous she was.

"Alright, let me just ring you in." The brunet began to type away at his computer. He frowned. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark doesn't have any appointments today. Can I get your name? I could maybe give him a call and-" He looked back at the monitor as he spoke. The screen had updated. "Oh uh, never mind. Sorry about that, Ms. Hicks? Sally Hicks?" He spoke. Catherine blinked, that was definitely not her name. But Ultron probably didn't want anyone to find out any details about her. Knowing who she was could lead to the avengers finding him.

"Yes, that's me." Catherine took it.

"Alright, looks like you're just in time. Your meeting starts in five minutes." He smiled. Clicking a button, he began to print out a pass. "Here," He handed her a yellow slip and a clip. "Just go on up, I've notified him that you are on your way." Catherine took the pass and pinned it to her clothes. Nodding to him, she followed the direction he pointed at which was to an elevator.

Getting around was easy, a guard or worker would scan her card and then point to where ever she needed to go. Every time she passed a security camera it would follow her, watching her. She knew it was Ultron.

Finally she entered a large room near the top of the building. In fact, she thought it might have been the top floor, but she couldn't tell. The room was nice and clear. There was a small stair case leading to a comfortable looking pad of couches and a coffee table. A bar was below, filled with drinks and booze that she hadn't even ever heard of, and was quite certain that it was all out of her price range entirely. There was a walk way above, looking out at the beautiful skyline of the city. The view was breathtaking.

"You must be Sally Hicks." A voice came from behind Catherine and she turned around a bit surprised. Her heart began to pound when she saw the famous form of Tony Stark. She swallowed down a hard lump.

"Yes," She held out her hand. "And you must be Tony Stark." They shook hands.

"I must, must I?"

"Unless you aren't."

"I am."

"Well good." She found herself smiling. He walked over to the bar, which Catherine thought was odd as seeing that they were doing business. But she had heard that his business had always been a tad off the norm.

"1986 Cos d'Estournel?" He lifted up a random bottle off the shelf.

"What's that?" Catherine felt inclined to ask.

Tony paused to look at it. "I have absoulty no clue, I was hoping you would tell me." He set it back. "Is a martini fine?" He began to pull out some more bottles.

"Yes that sounds alright."

"Good because it's the only thing I know how to make." He began to put everything together. "Shaken or stirred? You know what, James always did know best so I'm just going to follow his lead."

He slid the drink over to Catherine before leaning against the bar on the opposite side, sipping on his drink. Catherine glanced at him warily before taking her drink and taking a large swallow.

She didn't know what to do. Her mind was torn as she fought with herself. She had the chance to warn him. With just a few brief words, Ultron could be exposed. She could possibly be saving the world. She even opened her mouth, about to tell him. But then she shut it. She couldn't figure out why she wasn't saying anything. Perhaps it was fear. Maybe it was hope that he could change on his own. She figured it was a bit of both. Whatever it was, it kept her from talking.

"So, let's talk business." He set his drink down suddenly.

"Alright well," She set down her drink. She had been practicing in her mind what she was going to talk about for most of the car ride. It was blanking on her now. "I am hosting a charity fun run for the people of Sokovia." She began. "And I need sponsors."

"Who's running?" He asked, disinterested.

Catherine felt a bit cold. She didn't know and runners. "Well for now it's just public runners. Good Samaritans who are willing to spend their time raising funds for the less fortunate." She felt herself wanting to throw up at her own speech, she had absolutely no idea if what she was saying was convincing enough to be passed off as real. Or just really cheesy. However, Tony just continued to nod.

"Can I see some papers on it?" He asked. Catherine tightened her mouth. "I'd like to get a better idea of what I'd be signing off on."

"Well, my files were in my brief case, but while I was waiting outside I was jumped and all my files were stolen." She told the same excuse as she had before. Tony nodded again. "But I'm certain that I can-"

"I'm going to stop you there." Tony held up a hand. "Let me guess, this is your first time doing something like this?"

"Well uh, yes actually I-"

"Alright because I can tell. Honestly, let me give you some critical feedback on it if you're alright with that?" He didn't wait for her to even nod before he continued. "You suck. The whole thing, its just sloppy. The mugging story was fun, but a little on the dry side. I know I didn't have any meetings scheduled today and I was this close," he held out two fingers that were almost touching. "to kicking your ass out of here. However I find it interesting that you somehow managed to get your name in my filing and I want to know, one, how you did it, and two, why you did it, and three," he paused. "I don't have a third actually. Just uh, just give me the first two."

Catherine didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. Tony could see this so walking around the counter, he paused next to her and looked at her with a kind of flat look.

"Okay if that was too difficult to take in, let's just start with this," He looked her deep in the eyes. "can you answer one question?"

Catherine nodded.

"Good, well then, here it is; do you have any enemy's?" He asked.

"Uh, no. No I don't." She shook her head.

"Then that means you've never stood up for anything. So you come here, asking me to invest in your . . . . Fun run, and I know that you are not honestly doing that and if you are you really need to work on your presenting skills." He got a little off topic before back tracking himself. "You come here and ask me to stand up for your cause, when you've never stood up for anything yourself."

Catherine stared at him, unable to speak. She really hadn't ever stood up for anything in her life. She contemplated the wise words, knowing what she needed to do.

"Well I'm about to make an enemy right now then." She frowned. Tony frowned as well. Hushing her voice down, she leaned in closer to him, whispering, "I think you should take a look in your lab."

Tony turned around to glare at the blank tinted windows. Grabbing a remote pad from nearby on the counter, he began to type away at it, pressing buttons. Nothing he did though would untint the windows.

"Friday, brighten that for me if you would." He spoke aloud, looking around. There was no answer from his computer assistant. He looked at Catherine for a brief moment, knowing she had everything to with it before turning back and walking over to the lab entrance.

"I'm very sorry," Catherine said after him. He stopped to glance back at her again.

In more of a rush now, he began to run to the lab, making a quick motion to hold up his hand. Right as he was going around the bend, the windows shattered. Ultron leaped through the lab and into the room. There was a bag in one of his metal hands, in it was something unknown. He took no time in grabbing Catherine's arm with his free hand, and pulling her alongside him as he rushed to the window. Just as he broke the glass, Tony's armored suit began to fly onto his body. His arm was first, and with it he gave two quick shots at Ultron. He missed the first time, and the second time he grazed Catherine's leg, lightly burning the skin to her calf.

Catherine was screaming as they fell from the tall building. In seconds however, Ultron kicked in his flight boosters and lifted them back into the air. Iron man right behind them. He shot at the AI, hitting his arm. In another second, Catherine was in free fall.

…

So it's been a while! I know I shouldn't be drawing or doing anything with my hand, but I made a cover.

Anyhoo, I miss writing! It's been hard with one hand, but I tried. This chapter was not my favorite, and I had some writers block as well near the end but oh well. That happens. YAY! I've hit 200 followers! Thanks so much you guys for liking this story!

Also what do you guys think is going to happen? Is Ultron going to decide to do the right thing and save her? Or is Ironman going to be the one? I hate to do the whole damsel in distress gag, but it's not like Catherine can fly.

Leave a comment please! :)


	9. Are Pagers Still a Thing?

…

Panic.

His arm had been shot, it was still attached but no longer working. His hold on Catherine had gone limp, and the girl now tried to grip onto his limp limb, but she couldn't hang on the smooth metal. Now she plummeted to the city street.

Ultron was going too fast, and didn't have time to turn around and back to get her, she would already be crumpled on the pavement by then. Tony had enough time however, and flew downwards to catch the woman in freefall. Ultron felt himself not wanting to leave Catherine, but he saw this as the perfect opportunity to leave. He only had so much fuel and energy, and it could not be wasted in a dog fight with Stark. He needed to leave.

The Iron man swept down, scooping Catherine from the air. She was hyperventilating and instantly wrapped her arms around Tony, her grip as tight as it could be. By the time she was safe, Ultron was gone. Tony didn't see him through the tangle of sky scrapers, and it would be hopeless to chase him now.

Flying back to the tower, Tony had to coax Catherine to let go of him. She did so finally, her body shaking uncontrollably. Taking off the suit, Tony was quick to sit her down on a couch.

"Hey, hey," He crouched in front of her, snapping his fingers. "Look at me." He pointed to his eye. Catherine was looking at him. "You're fine, I'm fine, everything's fine." He soothed her. "Now I'm going to need you to calm down." Catherine forced herself to take deep breaths, but her hands still shook.

Catherine was afraid of heights.

Falling didn't help tame that fear in the slightest.

Tony got up, and walked down the short steps and around the glass. Going to the counter he grabbed his cell phone and began a heated, but hushed talk with someone as Catherine calmed herself down from her biggest fear. As she got ahold of herself, he was just ending the talk.

"Hurry it up if you would, I'd like to get a hold on this sooner rather than later." He set the phone down, running a hand over his face. He looked to Catherine. "Better now?" He gave her a look.

"Yes." She nodded. "Sorry I just don't like heights."

"Oh I thought it was the robot." He walked back over to where she was sitting. Catherine gave a laugh, but it wasn't funny.

"That tin can doesn't scare me." She leaned forwards, pressing her elbows to her knees.

"A couple friends of mine should be here shortly. In the meantime," He sat down on the other couch adjacent to her. "I'd love to hear about what the hell just happened."

Catherine gave him a glance before sighing and leaning back. "I think I'm going to need a few more martinis."

They moved their conversation to the bar, Catherine had swigged back her drink quickly and she was on her second now.

"He just kind of showed up one day. I found him in my garage. I'm a mechanic you see, the only one where I live. He must have nearby crashed or something, I'm not really certain why he chose my shop. There are plenty of other fancier places."

"Safety. In his weak state he couldn't risk anything possibly dangerous." Tony had a deeply troubled look on his face.

"He's been fixing himself up for about two weeks now. He just uses whatever he can in my shop. Sometimes he helps me fix customers cars." She took a swallow of her drink.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Tony asked. "Did he threaten you?"

"Not directly no. Sort of, but not really. I think we moved past that." She leaned her head in her hand. "But no matter that, I was planning to tell someone anyways. I was going to come here in a few days actually, to warn you. Turns out he wanted to come here as well. I got cold feet during our meeting at first, sorry about that. You probably could have done something sooner if I told you."

"Completely understandable." Catherine was surprised to find him so relaxed about her situation. However, he was still very stressed to find the AI alive. But at least she knew she was not in trouble at all. "Now is there anything you know that you think could be of any importance? I could really use a few leads here right now."

"Afraid not. He's rather secretive. He was building a new body for himself, and that's all I really know."

"Well one turns to two turns to four and so on. He's going to rebuild his army." Stark said mostly to himself.

"You know I might be insane for saying this, but he really wasn't all that half bad." Catherine remarked.

"Oh you're insane. Come on, let's find a strait jacket and the nearest institution." He slapped his hand down on the counter. Catherine smiled.

"I'm serious though, for a moment I really thought he could change his mind." She frowned at her drink.

Tony gave her a harsh look. "Trust me when I say he won't." He said darkly. "He might seem like his own person, but in the end he is still programming. He won't stop until his mission is complete." He flickered his eyes up and down her body, taking note of her uncomfortableness as she kept to herself tightly. "I get it, you've spent a lot of time with him. You're not the first one to gain a false hope with him."

"All I was saying is that he has some potential to change, I could even show him-"

"No, let me stop you before you hurt yourself. You seem nice, you really do, so don't let that hope get yourself any deeper than this. You said he was building a body? Well I guarantee you when he is done, he won't come back for you. Leave this issue to us, don't worry about what he could be. Let us worry about what he will do." Tony didn't take his gaze away from her, and Catherine struggled under his hot glare.

"To quote the robot, you're free." Catherine didn't understand the reference, as Ultron had never said it to her directly before. But she could guess what it meant.

"Alright." She sighed, nodding. "I won't dig deeper."

"Good. Now if you do excuse me, I would really like to know what it is he took." Tony walked away to the lab. Catherine waited at the bar, and she could see him through the broken glass as he searched around the room.

"Friday? Friday come on, boot up, I need an assist here." He said as he walked around the room. There was no reply from his beloved assistant. Tony sighed. "Alright, if I was the terminator, what would I want to get?" He hummed to himself. Catherine's eyes widened.

"Power." She said softly. Tony hardly caught what she said and stopped to look at her through the hole in the glass. "He needs power," She said as she walked over to the hole and stopped at its edge. "He was working on some reactor in his chest, it was broken and he couldn't fix it. His new body would need one too."

"Arc reactor." Tony said as he tapped on his own chest, rushing to the wall of the room where he kept some spares. All of the others had been used in Ultron's original army, along with the reactors he had to have built himself. Of course though, Ultron wouldn't have the tools to make one at this point in time, so the most logical thing to do was get one the easy way and take it. Tony's private backups were all that were left for the time being. And now as he looked for them, it was clear they were gone. He had had five.

He stared at the empty box, blank. Catherine could see that he was struggling inside.

"I don't know if the world can handle that again. Can handle _him_." He ran a hand through his hair. Ultron would have learned from his mistakes. There would be no stopping him this time. And if they defeated him, he would just keep coming back.

"The worlds handled worse." Catherine remarked. Tony looked over his shoulder.

"Let's hope so."

He walked back into the other room, and glanced at the burn on her leg. It was nothing serious, but still red and a layer or two of skin was burnt off and there was the small sliver of a cut that had a small amount of blood already drying around it. It had hardly even grazed her.

"Put some cream on that." He said as he walked by. Catherine looked down at her leg before turning back to Tony. He had something in his hand that he had taken from his lab, and was now dialing his phone as he looked at the little device. "Here," He handed the small thing to her. Catherine took it.

"Is this a pager?"

"Yes."

"Who even uses these anymore?"

"Only the most high tech and sophisticated of people." Tony pointed at the machine. "That right there is one top notch gadget." Catherine stared at him. "Alright fine, I got it for three bucks and I think it's a funner to use than a phone at times."

"Funner isn't a word." A tall man walked around the corner. Catherine recognized him instantly as being the legendary Captain America. He was not in his uniform, and instead was wearing the humbling outfit of jeans and a grey t-shirt. Catherine felt herself getting nervous. Now she was in the same room as two celebrities.

"Uh, I think it is." Tony waved a finger at him.

"Just because you think it is, doesn't make it true." Steve pursed his lips.

"Well I'm certainly funner than you." Tony poked his chest with two fingers. Steve only huffed. Then he noticed Catherine.

"Hello, I'm Steve." He held out his hand.

"Catherine." She shook it.

"Oh yes, I forgot to ask you what your real name was." Tony thought back.

"Catherine." She said again.

"So I've heard." Tony replied. He turned to Steve. "Where are the others?" He asked.

"Prepping." Steve answered. "Now," He said, getting very serious. "You said Ultron's back?"

"Hold that thought, let me just finish up with Cate here, is it alright if I call you that?"

"Yes." Catherine nodded.

"Alright Cate, if you do happen to come across Ultron again. Page me." He pointed the pager in her hand. "It's the only number on it. All you have to do is press that button right there," He now moved his finger over the largest button on the small device. "and I'll get the memo. I don't care if he's visiting for tea, you press that, do you understand?"

"Yes." Catherine nodded again.

"Good."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I would really like to know what's going on." Steve cut in again.

"Come on, let's round up the others." Tony moved to head up to the jet pad. Then he paused, as if an idea just came to him.

"You too." Tony looked to Catherine. She felt a bit surprised, as she thought she would have been sent home now.

She followed the two up a flight of stairs and to an elevator. It was quick and they were face to face with the others in no time. Catherine marveled at the hero's before her. Black Widow, Falcon, the Scarlet Witch, Quick Silver, War Machine and the Vision. Catherine was confused to find all of these people with the Avengers, and some of the old Avengers to be gone. She had caught rumor of the Hulks disappearance, again. She did not know what happened to Thor or Hawkeye.

"Hi everyone." Tony smiled largely.

"Tony what's going on?" Natasha cut right to it.

"Ultron's back." He dropped the smile. Natasha turned to the Vision.

"You said they were all gone." She frowned at him.

"So I thought." The Vision looked at nothing, head titled slightly in thought.

"He shut down Friday and stole five arc reactors." Tony reported.

"What kind of shape is he in? He risked coming here." Steve glanced to Tony, but Catherine was the one to reply.

"Bad." She answered, all eyes turned to her and she shifted. "He's done a few patch jobs, but he'd weak. His main focus was building a body."

"How do you know?" Natasha asked.

"Ultron hunkered himself down in her auto-repair shop for the couple of weeks." Tony spoke for her.

"You mean to say that Ultron's been crashing on your couch?" Rhodey gave Catherine a look. She laughed.

"Yeah, I guess. Not my usual house guest but I'm open to anything." She joked. He gave a short laugh, but no one else did.

"Do you know anything about what he plans on doing?" Wanda asked, and Catherine felt surprised to hear the thick accent she carried.

"No, I don't, sorry. In fact I'm not sure why I'm even still here." She gave a glance at Tony.

"I think we can use you." He said. "Ultron might come back-"

"You said he wouldn't."

"and if he does, Catherine here could be the perfect candidate to keep an eye on him." He continued on like she hadn't said anything.

"He does like company, I know that for sure." Natasha tightened her lips. Wanda looked at her in agreement.

"We aren't using Catherine as bait." Steve frowned at them all. "She doesn't need to be a part of this."

"That's what Mr. Stark here was telling me before, but I see his point now." Catherine looked from Steve to Tony. "I don't think he will be coming back, but if he does, I'm willing to do anything to help."

"That's very brave of you." Steve praised her.

"Well if you're in then, here's what I have in mind. If he happens by you again, I want you to page me."

"Paging?" Rhodey snorted. "Really Tony?"

"Shh ta ta ta shh." Tony hushed his friend quickly. "Anyways, keep me updated daily. Even if something doesn't seem interesting, it could lead to bigger thoughts." Catherine nodded as he spoke, informing him that she understood everything. "And remember that big button? That's for if things go sour."

"I think we'll be sending you on your way now. You okay to drive? I don't know how you are with your alcohol. What did you have, three glasses?" Tony looked into her face to try and read her.

"Just two." Catherine smiled. "Thanks for the concern but I'll be fine."

"If you say so." Tony shrugged.

"It was nice meeting you all. A bit of a strange experience, but a nice enough one." She admitted before turning around to leave. Steve caught her arm though.

"Stay safe." He looked at her intensely. "Don't do anything rash."

"I won't."

…

Whoop there it issss.

Alright so the plot thickens. I went with TheScribe6754's idea on having her be a spy for the Avengers. What do you guys think? And is Catherine really all that reliable? Who knows.

You might have noticed Quicksilver in the list of Avengers, because BUM BA DA BUM, he's alive! The original script called for him to be brought back to life with that machine thing Clint was in, but they didn't put it in in the end of the movie, so let's just pretend like they did.

Review please! Although….. it may be hard to review because I deleted my authors note chapter so everything's messed up right now, but still, review!


	10. Want a Cup?

…

It had been a full two weeks. Two weeks of normal life.

Catherine would sigh every morning, forcing herself to get out of bed. Her day would be the same as it always was, she'd have breakfast, watch the news, fix cars, eat dinner, go to bed and repeat. The great storm that was supposed to happen was late by a week. Everyone knew it was going to hit any day now, the whole town could feel it stirring in the air. The stillness of it all. None of it concerned Catherine too much, they'd had bad storms before. She had her fridge stocked and backup generator in hand. A drawer stocked full of candles in case the power went out, and door stuffers to block out wind.

With Ultron gone, she was able to have company over without worry. She could go outside without thinking of what he was doing in her garage. She could sit in peace and quiet in her home. It was the life she had strived for and worked hard to get. It was all she wanted.

But she was suddenly feeling very lonely.

She worked on the cars in silence. Occasionally she would glance to where she would use to see him, but he wasn't there. She couldn't say she missed him, because she didn't. But she missed having company.

It used to be that quiet was all she wanted. Time to herself, and to be alone. But being alone was lonely.

She sat on the couch currently, tears swelling in her eyes and dripping forcefully down her face. She had just received some bad news about a family member, and was going to have her closest relative come up soon so they could grieve together.

"If this is a bad time, I could come back later." An all too familiar voice spoke behind her. Catherine turned around with a jump, and who she saw was unfamiliar but recognizable instantly. It was of course, Ultron. He looked different. Bigger. His height was greatly exaggerated, and features more readable. Instead of a single face plate, he now had more depth. Individual parts formed his face to give him emotion that she could see. However right now, he was as blank as ever.

She quickly wiped away the tears with her sleeve, standing up and looking at him again.

"You're looking good." She sniffed, embarrassed by how red her face must be.

"I don't know if I can say the same for you." He glanced at her, red eyes flicking up and down her face.

"Oh, I just got a phone call. Something came up with the family . . . . It's nothing really, we've all be expecting it for some time." She shrugged, grabbing her shoulder and rubbing it.

"Hey I was about to make a pot of coffee, do you want a cup to pretend like you fit in?" She walked past him quickly, intimidated by his new form. She felt reluctant to even look at him.

"If it makes you feel better." He followed her to the kitchen. He sat down on a stool, and Catherine fretted that it would break. It didn't though.

It was night time, but she was craving the caffeine right now. She began to boil water for the coffee grounds. She leaned against the counter awkwardly, looking at Ultron before looking away, then forcing her gaze back to him.

"Why are you here?" She asked bluntly.

"What are you unhappy to see me?" He grinned. Catherine felt unsettled. There was something off with his smile, it wasn't friendly. He stopped smiling. "We still have our deal."

Catherine squinted her eyes at him before realizing what he was talking about. "You're actually going to stick around for six month?" She frowned.

"Why not." He shrugged. "I find our talks humorous enough. You know I really thought you'd be happier about this, I am better company than that cat after all."

"That's debatable." She turned around to grab two mugs from the cupboard. She filled one with coffee. Walking over to the opposite side of the counter, she slid him the empty mug and he took it without a fuss. She sipped on her own drink, he held up his and examined it. A cold look washed over him and he set it down slowly.

"I'll start off by saying that I'm not upset that you ratted me out." He looked at her and Catherine almost choked on her coffee. "It was expected after all. However I will not be tolerating anything of the sort again, you want to go tattle to Stark again, you'd better expect a fight and you won't even be able to blink in the time that I am done with you. Things will get ugly and I'd rather avoid that for the time being. I assume the avengers already have some kind of contact with you now no doubt, whatever it is you'd better cut it and cut it fast."

"Here's how things will go if you run back to Stark; I will hunt each and every one of them down personally and it will not be pretty. Our deal will expire and I will carry on as if I hadn't even ever met you. In scenario two, which I find you will like much better, we continue on as before and there will be the slim chance I won't destroy your world if you think you can really show me something worth saving. Either version works fine for me, I just thought I'd let you have a say in it." He sat back and stared at her, arms crossed. Catherine blinked.

"I know you said you weren't upset, but that sounds like the opposite of upset." She swallowed.

"Take it as you will."

"Hmm well, let me think this over, it is after a tough decision." She pursed her lips. "On one hand, you go and kill everyone and thing on the planet. On the other hand, you might not." She balanced out her hands, weighing them back and forth. "I don't know, it's a close one. Global destruction sounds nice, but I think in the end I'll have to go with number two."

"Alright yeah, sounds good to me as well." He agreed.

"Are you done with that? If you are I'm going to put back on the shelf." Catherine pointed to the mug.

"Go for it." He replied. She did so, and put her own used coffee cup in the sink to be washed later.

"So how are you going to carry on with your dastardly plans if you're stuck here?" She asked.

"You forget that I am capable of being in control of more than one body." He gave her a look. Catherine took a silent note to herself that he had taken five arc reactors, meaning he had four other bodies now. Drones probably, like the one she had grown to know.

"You know you left that black box in the garage." She said.

"I know."

"What's it for anyways?" She asked. She asked it before, but wanted to ask again.

"Emergencies." He stood up. He turned around to go into the garage. Catherine followed after him, but stopped short after he stopped in the door way. She looked at his back, noticing the details of the curves. It was great work he had taken into making it, the craft was beautiful. He glanced over his shoulder at her before looking back to the cars inside.

"It's late. You go to sleep, I'll keep myself busy until morning. I'd start planning if I were you." He walked into the garage, shutting the door behind him. Catherine stood stiffly.

She didn't go to bed right away, but he was right. She did need to sleep. However the coffee was keeping her up. After an hour she finally took a sleeping pill and was out within the next twenty minuets. She couldn't say she was exactly please to have him back, but she wasn't discontented either. It made her feel good to have an eye on him for herself. Even if she couldn't keep an eye on all of him, at least she knew what one of him was doing. His company had already distracted her from her family related issues.

Before she had fallen asleep she had taken the pager into consideration. She was tired however, and decided that she would decide if she should message Tony or not in the morning.

She did not end up sending him a message. She didn't know if it was a poor choice or not, considering Ultron's threat. She knew she would eventually tell Stark within the next few days, but she didn't know when.

"Oh yeah, I'm really scared now." She could hear Ultron from the garage. Frowning, she shuffled over to the garage door and opened it. Her heart dropped.

Jim was backed up in the corner of her shop, holding up a power saw that wasn't even plugged in. He was wide eyed and shaking. His car had broken down again and Catherine had been fixing it up the previous day. She had advised him to just sell it for parts and get a new one, but it was his wife's car and she was rather attached to it and refused to get rid of it until it could move another inch. Catherine could only imagined what had happened right before she woke up.

Jim being her friend, must have just invited himself in to the shop as he knew the garage door wasn't locked. What he didn't know what that the person inside was not Catherine.

"Cate, what is this thing doing in your garage?" He thrusted out the saw even further and Ultron narrowed his gaze at the man. Catherine quickly got between the two, placing her hands on Ultron's chest and giving him a shove in the opposite direction before turning to Jim and carefully putting her hand on top of the power tool and lowering it down and out of his grasp until she was holding it.

"Jim, calm down." She looked at him deeply.

"Calm down?" He glared at her. "Don't you know who that is?"

"Really I should be the one freaking out right now, he broke in here not the other way around." Ultron put in.

"You broke in here just yesterday." Catherine gave him a look.

"The door was open."

"Well then Jim didn't break in either because he came the same way you did." She turned back to her friend. "Jim can you come with me to the living room?" She tried to grab his attention, but he wouldn't stop staring at the mechanical man. "Jim." She snapped her fingers.

"Is he coming too?" Jim glanced warily at Ultron. Catherine looked at him as well.

"Yes."

She led Jim out of the garage, Ultron following behind them both. Catherine sat Jim down on the sofa while she sat in the chair herself, and Ultron chose to stand.

"This is really weird." Jim stated.

"I know." Catherine agreed.

"Is this even really happening?" He asked.

"Why don't you pinch yourself?" Ultron suggested.

Catherine put her head in her hands. "This is exactly what I didn't want to happen." She groaned.

"What? For people to see me? I'm not some big secret for you to keep. I could walk out into that town right now if I wanted to." Ultron huffed.

"What is he doing here Cate?" Jim demanded now.

"Honestly I don't even know right now." She threw her hands up before slapping them down on her legs.

"I'm sorry this is too much, I need to go-" Jim stood up faltered in his step when Ultron took a stride at him.

"And where is it exactly that you are going to go? The police no doubt?" His head was tilted and he was staring at Jim directly and dead panned. "Do you honestly think I care if you go to the authorities? Ooh better yet, why not call the avengers. I'll really be shaking then."

Jim sat back down.

In a world with super heroes and villain being part of the social norm, and having their stories covered by the media and news constantly, it was likely that someone was to occasionally cross paths with one of the famed supers. Had it been a world where perhaps these people were not needed and there for did not exist, seeing something as strange as Ultron would have been a complete heart stopped. But with these characters being a part of everyday life, like movie stars and models, it wasn't quite as shocking.

Still though, it was quite shocking none the less.

"Can I talk to you alone?" Jim asked Catherine.

"I can take a hint." Ultron turned around and retired to the garage.

"Believe it or not, it's actually better that he's here." Catherine sighed.

"You know I don't even want to know how he ended up here now." Jim pursed his lips. "Just tell me he's not going to turn our city into a cloud."

"I sure hope not." Catherine leaned back into the chair.

They didn't talk for a moment, both silent.

"I think he's lonely." She admitted. Jim laughed.

"It's a robot, Cate."

Catherine glanced at him, but didn't say anything.

"I'm not going to stop you from telling anyone. I don't think he cares. I don't really care that much either I guess." She sighed.

"I'll keep my mouth shut, if only to keep the town from rioting your house. I just can't believe that there's a, a … a super villain in your home." He blew out a gust of air.

"Speaking of which, you won't believe who I met!" Catherine crossed her legs, and leaned forwards excitedly.

"Who?"

"The Avengers that's who!" She bragged.

"Shut up."

"No really, there was this whole mess and anyways, I met Stark and Rogers and everyone! Honestly it was one the coolest experiences of my life." She had a large, stupid smile on her face.

Jim laughed. "Maybe having a doomsday device walking around your house isn't such a bad thing." He joked. "I'm definitely telling Sandra and the kids that they have a personal connection to the Avengers."

"Leaving out the danger, keeping the fun." Catherine raised a brow.

Jim chuckled as he stood up. Catherine got up too. But then she stepped close to him, and leaned in to whisper as quietly as she could so there were chances of Ultron overhearing.

"I'm in direct contact with Tony Stark. Seriously, don't worry about me. I have everything under control." She took a step back and looked at him. He had a sudden of air of understanding and seemed a little less stressed than before.

He nodded. "Good."

"I really should get going though, I just wanted to pick up my car before the big one hits." He said.

"Understandable. Tell Sandra I said hi." Catherine replied.

"I will."

They walked back into the garage, where Ultron was waiting patiently.

"I put some finishing touches on it, so enjoy the extra services." He said as they walked by. Jim was noticeably tense, and gave the robot a strange look.

He cleared his throat. "Thank you." Jim flattened his lips before turning to Catherine.

"How much do I owe you now?" He asked.

"Three fifty." She replied as he flipped though his cash and handed her the correct amount. Credit cards weren't something normally used in the small town, and everyone mainly used cash as their payment.

As Jim got in his car he turned once more to Catherine.

"Cate." He turned to Ultron and gave a cough. "Ultron." He said his goodbyes.

"Jim." The mechanical man replied. Jim flashed him a smile that was more out of fear than anything before he got in his car and drove away.

"That went rather well, don't you think?" Ultron turned to Catherine who just rolled her eyes.

…

Ta Da! A full ten chapters!

Alright, I wasn't originally going to have Jim meet Ultron this early in the story, but I thought it over and realized it would make more sense plot wise. So there we have it. And I realize it might seem like he was a bit too calm, but I figured in a world of weird things, someone wouldn't freak out as much as if it had happened in a world like ours where stuff like Ultron and the Hulk and Thor are not every day occurrences.

The Queen of D: Thank you so much for the review! I would have messaged you but you're a guest account so I couldn't. Anyways, thank you so much for addressing the Quick Silver thing! I do have a plan to go around that. Though you made me think about it a bit more, and I'm going to intensify my ideas around that a bit more. I don't want to spoil anything though so just hold tight ;) Also the main reason I brought him back was because I heard that the movie wasn't originally going to leave him dead anyways. So I just went with the original plan. I wanted to see if I could create something realistic out of it, and continue on with characterization. Later there will be more depth about Ultron's relationship with Wanda and Pietro.

Alright, I think that's about it. Sorry if I didn't reply to everyone. Sometimes I just get tired and don't reply and then it gets too late to reply and I just never do.

I love the feedback guys! Keep it up!

Review please!

*oof the next couple of chapters are going to be a doozey*


	11. At least Nothings Broken

…

Ultron flew down through the forest trees, landing softly on the cold earthy ground. He had left for two days to attend to some business that he thought should be handled by the more . . . . _Convincing_ appearance of his main form, rather than that of a drones. Speaking of the drones, they were hard at work finding more metal to build more bodies. It was harder than it seemed to just take the supplies he needed, and he had found it actually to be easier to work out some kind of trade with a few businesses. To establish his partnerships, he needed to be present himself. He could easily take control of a drone, but they mostly functioned on their own based on the order he would give them. They were independent in decision making, following the steps that would best suit the task they were given. If they were having trouble, Ultron would be alerted and he could man it himself.

If he wanted, he could control all of the drones at once, even when they reached the hundreds. It was simply easier to give them commands however, and focus on his main body.

He had already gained business with a power company. He showed the owner a more cost effective way of producing and selling energy, and in return he was given some of the energy himself. It was a small portion, but soon he would be doing the same practice with other companies. This was useful to him in many ways, building arc reactors being the main. Ultron was also in with a copper industry, and a steel one as well. He had yet become part of a titanium company, which is what he needed most for building his army. That would be trickier, considering he would need a lot of it.

He walked around to the front of the house. The snow was blowing hard and the street lights were hardly even visible. This didn't concern him however. Catherine had informed him of a large storm coming their way, and that she was fully prepared to sit it out. The front door was locked, much to his disappointment. She usually left it open. While the practice was unsafe, it did allow him easy access so he never said anything of it.

He tried the garage, it too was locked. But he knew the combination.

As he entered the home, he felt something off. There was someone sitting on the couch, and it was not Catherine. He stood a ways off, large and intimidating. The TV was off, but there was a radio on the coffee table that played a fuzzy broadcast. The person talking was describing the conditions of the storm.

The person was tense, and had turned down the radio. He had heard Ultron come in. Slowly he turned around, and his eyes passed over Ultron. They did not land on him however, and instead continued to flicker nervously around the room. Ultron frowned.

"Cattie?" The man called out, brow ruffled. "Cattie is that you?" Ultron felt confused, could he not see him?

"No." He answered. The man stiffened incredibly so now.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He asked now, standing up. As he did he bumped into the sleeping dog beside him. The golden retriever jolted, looking up at its master. It then noticed the presence of the mechanical man and the hairs on its neck bristled. Jumping from the couch, the dog bound around the furniture and stopped between Ultron and the man, growling.

Ultron glanced at the dog before turning back to the man, not really knowing how to answer. "I'm a friend of Catherine's. Who are you?" He didn't quite know if what he had stated was true or not. They weren't really friends, but if not, then what were they?

"Oh, you must be Ron." The young man shifted. "Hush Baily." He commanded and the dog listened and instantly stopped. "Sorry about her, she's just doing her job. Cattie told me you might be coming by. I'm Josh, Cattie's brother." He walked around the couch, keeping a hand on it to guide him around. He stopped a few feet away from Ultron, and held out his hand. Ultron hesitated.

"You wouldn't want to shake my hand right now, pardon me but I caught the flu, wouldn't want to get you sick too." He excused himself. Josh put his hand down.

"Thanks for the warning. I can hear it in your voice, a bit rough." He replied. Ultron's eye twitched.

He examined the man. He was younger than Catherine by a few years, but taller. His face was the same as Catherine's in many ways. Their chins and noses were identical. Their eyes were very similar, except for the hazy white that covered Joshes gaze. He was blind.

"Where's Catherine?" Ultron asked. Josh got a worried look on his face now.

"She said she needed some more cream for her coffee." Ultron knew that that was something Catherine couldn't live without, and found it very plausible for her to go out to get some even in a storm. "She told me it would only take twenty minutes but it's been two hours since she left. The storm wasn't much then, but it's gotten really strong now. I'm worried for her, but I can't go out and look for her." He sounded desperate.

"I'll go."

Ultron left, heading back into the storm that was rapidly growing larger and stronger each passing minute. He felt a little peeved at her for leaving when she knew the dangers of the storm.

He wondered briefly why he was even there. He could be doing more useful things. Truly he was just lonely. He remembered when the twins left him. That feeling of just emptiness. He had had no one to talk with, no one to share in a moment with. He found it strange that he even craved any social interaction. He was supposed to be above that. Perhaps he wasn't as great as he thought himself to be.

Ultron had flown into town. The trip had been quick considering he had been flying. He landed in front of the store, only to find it closed early due to weather conditions. He took to the air again.

Something caught his eye. It was down on the ground, flashing lights just visible through the thick of the snow. Red, blue, red, blue. He flew down close by, and watched from afar what was happening. It was just two buildings away from Jim's café. Ultron recognized said man, hands on his head and in distress. There were other people around as well. All the shops were closed, so the number of people was surprising.

The storm was a good cover to not be seen, so Ultron felt confident in walking right up behind Jim.

"Jim." He spoke. The man jumped, swiveling to face him. He looked up and Ultron through he could see his face whiten. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm fine, really." Jim stood a bit taller, trying to hide his fear. He glanced around nervously though. "I haven't told anyone, I swear-"

"I don't care about that." Ultron cut him off sharply. He paused then, looking at the commotion. There were two cars, both in ruins. The scene had been completely blocked off, topped with flashing signs and everything. It seemed that the emergency crew was packing up, ready to head out. There were three police cars, but no ambulance or fire trucks.

"What happened?" Ultron asked.

"It was a head on crash, I was just closing up shop when it happened. I'm not really sure what went wrong, but the paramedics told me she was going to be okay. Oh god, I really hope they're right." He breathed deeply.

"She? Who's she?" Ultron felt that he knew, and right as he looked back at the cars, he knew.

"Catherine." Jim answered. "I thought you knew."

"Where is she now?" Ultron demanded.

"The hospital, I was just about to go-"

"We leave now." Ultron turned. Jim followed, jogging to catch up.

"I don't think you'll be able to fit in my car." Jim said worriedly. Ultron glanced at him over his shoulder.

"Fine." He said, and with that he took to the sky.

He waited ten minutes in the hospital parking lot before Jim arrived.

"How long ago was the accident?" He asked.

"Just a about an hour or two." Jim replied as he shut the door. "I've been debriefing the police along with a few others who saw the crash. They can't tow out the cars in the snow, and have to wait until the storm passes."

They were at the doors now, and Jim walked in but Ultron stayed behind. It would be best not to cause a scene with his presence.

He was patient, yet impatient with his waiting. He stood twenty feet from the sliding glass doors but wasn't worried about being seen if anyone came out of the building, the snow was too thick to make out any details of his form and he would just look like a man in the snow. It was a half hour before Jim came out again, Catherine behind him. Ultron immediately rushed up to them, and took her by the upper arm. It was not harsh though, it was a rather comforting grasp as he looked her up and down.

"Are you okay?" He asked, and Catherine herself was a bit shocked by the worry she heard in his voice.

"You were there for hours." He let his hold on her go.

"They just wanted to check me up. See if I had any internal injuries. The storm rolled in and the doctor told me I could stay until morning at least." Catherine explained. It was getting rather late, and it did make sense for them to keep her until she could at least see through the storm. "But Jim came in and said he could take me home and that's that."

"Nothing serious?" He squinted at the large cut on her forehead. It wasn't bleeding as it had been cleaned, but it was still awful looking.

"I got a couple cuts from the glass, and the seatbelt left a pretty dark bruise, but I'm fine. Really." She smiled. "Now can we go? It's really cold." As she said this a gust of ice and snow blew past them and the two humans huddled in on themselves.

"I can try to drive you home, but this storm is getting worse every minute." Jim shuttered.

"I'll take care of that. You just worry about yourself." Ultron gave a hard look Jim's way.

"Alright." He agreed. "Catherine you take care of yourself, okay?" He gave her a hug, glad she was alright. When he let go, he daringly gave Ultron the same hard look as he had given him. If it had not been for the fact that Catherine was in contact with the Avengers, he would have been in much more of a panic about the situation. He would have called the authorities straight away. Not the police, but the government. But he knew that Catherine had it under control. He trusted her to make the right decisions.

He left with that, and drove away slowly through the snow.

"Come here." Ultron told Catherine. She frowned, but stepped closer to him. There was still a gap though, and he rolled his eyes, and closed the space with a large sweeping step. He embraced her, taking his arms and placing them on her sides under her arms.

"What are you doing?" She widened her eyes.

"Have you ever flown before?" He raised a brow at her.

"What? No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She tried to back away but he was still holding her. He held her tighter now, lifting her up to his height and pressing her to his chest. Catherine struggled to get out of his grasp but she couldn't even budge him. Then he kicked in his boosters and they were in the air. Catherine screamed wildly, now wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Snow pierced her skin as they flew fast through the air.

She didn't dare look down, and kept her eyes slammed shut.

"You can let go now." Ultron spoke with humor. Catherine forcefully opened her eyes and found they were in her front yard. She breathed heavily, heart thumping hard against her chest. She had to almost pry her arms off of him. Ultron looked her up and down.

"Afraid of heights?" He asked. She didn't speak, but her shaking told him enough. Perhaps though this was just because it was so cold. "Come on, let's get you inside before you freeze to death." He led her through the door. Opening the door they were blasted with a wave of warm heat that even Ultron felt relieved to feel as it melted the layer of ice that had begun to form on him.

"Ron? Is that you?" Josh asked when the door opened.

"And me." Catherine said.

"Cattie!" Josh nearly jumped from the sofa and grabbed hold of his dogs lead, letting the retriever guide him to where Catherine was as Ultron shut the door to cut off the cold. Josh embraced Catherine and she winced.

"Ouch." She said with gritted teeth.

"Sorry, what's wrong? What happed?" Josh asked as he let go of his sister.

"I got in a car wreck. Nothing's wrong! I'm fine!" She said before he could worry about her. "I'm just a little bruised is all, I wasn't going fast enough for it to be bad."

"Did you run off the road?" He asked.

"No, the snow made it hard to see and both another drive and I were a little too close to the middle of the road and we collided. The other persons fine too from what I hear." She explained.

"I'm just happy that Ron found you." Josh sighed. She looked to Ultron who gave her a look back.

"So you two have met then I take it?" Catherine asked.

"He came into the house looking for you."

"I locked the doors though . . . " She turned back to Ultron with an accusing glare.

"One two three four is not a good lock code." He replied.

"Well to finish introductions," Catherine ignored him. "Josh is my brother. I would have told you he was coming, but then again, I didn't know when you were stopping by either."

"If I don't set a date, then I don't have to worry about punctuality." Ultron said, and with that he walked to the garage. Catherine had a feeling that by the time she woke up the next morning, all the cars in the garage would be fixed. It was usually what he did at night.

"Don't mind him, he's a bit," She searched for a word. "Crude."

"He seems fine to me." Her brother shrugged and Catherine allowed herself to cringe at his words, knowing just how wrong he was. "But hey, you should get some rest. Recover."

"Should I show you to the guest room?" She asked.

"I'm blind not helpless. I've been here before Cattie." Josh snorted. "I'm just wondering where Ron is staying. I mean, are you two, like, together or-"

"Oh my god," Catherine inturupted him, horrified. "Oh, oh no. No no no no no. Definitely not."

"Oh well you could make it a little less obvious then." Josh laughed.

"No it's just that, he's not my type really." Catherine blushed and she was glad her brother couldn't see her mortified face.

"Ok ok, don't worry yourself over it I was just asking. Couch then I presume?"

"Yeah, but you know, he likes to stay up late. He's also a bit of a mechanic so if you hear some noises in the middle of the night he's just working on some projects."

"Alright, good to know. Well, good night Cattie."

"Goodnight." Catherine said back.

She went to her room and undressed. She pulled on some panties but wasn't in the mood for sleeping with a shirt on, she felt too stiff to do so and so she slunk under the covers half naked and aching. Once she was settled she quick to sleep, her thoughts before she went under was that flying and the metal man holding her close, and she found herself almost liking the memory.

…

No excuses, it's been over a year since I've updated. I didn't plan on updating again, but then again, I didn't not plan on it either. I don't know, I still have a fondness for this fluff story and I figured I better get to some romantics in it because that's why I started writing in the first place and wouldn't it be a shame if I didn't meet that goal? No but really, thank you to all who kept posting reviews and asking for more, I really might have ignored this fic completely if people didn't remind me that I had started it and that I need to finish it. Hopefully a few of you are still looking forwards to reading more. I'm going to try and push some cute, fluffy romance on them soon because who doesn't want to see some robot lovin? Catherine can deny it all she likes, but Ultron is definitely her type.


	12. Okay now Somethings Broken

…

"You know I really don't understand you."

"Shut up."

"No really, I just, I can't even wrap my mind around it right now."

"Seriously, just be quiet."

"Sorry but, this just amazes me."

"Ultron I swear if you say one more word about it I'm going to kill you." Catherine gritted her teeth. It had been a very long morning for her and she really wasn't feeling up to his humor.

"But you broke your wrist slipping off your porch! I mean, you just got in a car wreck yesterday and were fine, but this, _this_ ," He laughed, pointing to the spot of ice one which she had slipped on. "Hurts you more than a head on collision."

"It's great you are finding this so funny but really I'm actually in a lot of pain right now and I should go to the hospital . . . Again." She winced as she moved her arm. "Besides, how do you even know if it's broken?"

"Oh it's broken." He nodded.

The snow had stopped its flurry at around nine that morning, but was going to start up again any minuet. The wind was still strong and blowing hard as ever, but the visibility made Catherine feel the need to check if there was mail. There had been a few letters shoved in her box, and she quietly praised the mail men who never seemed to know when to quit. On her way back to the house though, Ultron had come outside to see what she was doing. However, he'd opened the door on her which caused her to slide on the icy porch and fall with a hard thud. She landed funny on her right wrist and now it hung a more limp and a lot more sore.

"You are not going to be walking back to the hospital though, the storm is bound to pick up before you even get there." He told her.

Catherine rubbed the tears away from her puffy red eyes and sniffed. She hated crying, especially in front of others but it seemed to happen a lot to her anyways. This time though, she felt she had a valid excuse but she was feeling edgy about it anyways since he had laughed at her.

"Well what do you suppose I should do?" She bit at him, unhappy and in pain.

"Don't do anything. I'll take care of it." He placed a metal hand on her back and softly led her back inside. She nearly moved away from his touch but instead she let him guide her.

"Is everything all right?" Josh came around the corner. "I heard you yell."

"I slipped on the ice and hurt my wrist." Catherine answered. "Ron thinks it's broken."

"It is broken." Ultron interjected.

"Cattie, you must be a walking bad luck charm." Josh gave her a sympathetic look without actually looking at her. Catherine nearly smiled, looking at Ultron and slightly agreeing. "Are you going to go to the hospital?"

"No, the storm isn't over. But I know first aid, I can wrap it up just as well as any doctor." Ultron said without modesty. Josh seemed uncertain.

"Its fine, I swear." Catherine reassured him.

"Alright, whatever, I won't get in the middle of it." Josh put up his hands. "I'm just going to be listening to some audio books if you need me." Josh went back to his room with that, leaving Catherine and Ultron alone.

"Sit tight while I make a plaster. Find something comfortable to slip over it so it won't rub against the cast." He began to move away from her but then looked at her again and frowned. "And don't hold it down like that, keep it up, it will hurt less." He went to the kitchen and began to take out flour and put on the sink for hot water. Catherine watched him for a moment before returning to her room and going through her drawer with her good hand. She found an old pair of socks and took them, walking back into the living room.

"I'll take those." Ultron grabbed the socks and unfolded them. He then snipped off the toe end with scissors and cut a hole in the side. Catherine frowned at him. "Put both of them on your wrist." He commanded. She did as told. It hurt to so much as gently touch her now swollen wrist and she winced. The hole on the side was meant for her thumb she realized as she put it on.

"Ow." She said.

"Don't be such a wuss." He called over his shoulder. Catherine blinked at him, eye brows furrowing.

"I'm so sorry that my wrist that you broke hurts me." She said with a tight lip.

"Apology accepted. Now here," He put a bowl down on the counter. "I'm going to put this over the socks, just don't fuss while I'm doing this, okay?"

"Okay." She felt uncertain about his home remedy. She tried to not complain or cry while he put the plaster on her wrist. He held her arm still while it dried which took a few minutes but then it was done.

"This is only temporary. Later when it's _safe_ to go into town you can buy a brace." He explained.

"Well um, thank you." She gave a small cough. She glanced at the make shift cast, it wasn't that bad for a sock and baking flour. She glanced over to the couch when she heard a rough sounding meow and saw Seymour sitting on the back of the furniture. He gave her a blank look and meowed again, this one coarser than the last. She moved around back to the living room and sat on the couch and Seymour perked up his head at her as she gave him a quick pet.

"There is something wrong with that animal." Ultron said as he sat down. Catherine shut her eyes with frustration.

"I swear if you tear my couch with your sharp edges I'm going to, I'm going to-" She took a moment to think. "Well I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm going to do something."

"Don't worry about it, I'm not going to-" He began but stopped, looking at the couch. "Oh wait, never mind I just did."

"You what?" She snapped at him.

"Kidding, kidding! Geeze you're in a bad mood today." He sat back and gave a look to the cat that was now staring at him. When Catherine didn't reply he turned back to her and she only lifted her broken wrist up and it was enough said. "I bet it's because you didn't eat breakfast yet." He ignored her obvious statement.

"I'm not hungry." She said firmly.

"And I'm not made of metal." He guffawed. She gave him the same cold look shed given him all morning. He sighed. "I'm sorry I made you fall. Happy now?"

"No." She paused. "But I accept your apology." She stood up again, he was right, she was hungry.

"Good. Now please, make that thing stop staring at me." He looked back to Seymour. "It's unnerving." He stood up after her, following her back into the kitchen.

"You're one to talk."

"What, you find me unnerving?" He raised a metallic eye brow. She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out and she looked at him for a hard moment.

"No." She finally said, but her voice gave it away.

"Don't find me threatening?" He stepped close to her, backing her against the counter. The air was still light, he had been in a good mood all day, and she knew that even this was a joke. But yes, she couldn't help find him threatening in this moment. He was so close that they were touching, just barely, only brushed against each other. She had to look up to see his face, and it wasn't a face that was easily read.

"Not at all." She replied. He laughed now, backing off of her.

"Good, you'll be ready to stand up to anyone at this rate." He said. She stared at him. Ultron knew she was wondering why his mood was so cheerful, in all honesty he didn't know either. He hadn't gotten any progress done with his drones in the past few days and things were looking to be at a standstill for his operations at the moment, he had metals but no power, and the metals and other materials he was slowly gathering were weak at best. But he was content at the moment anyways, what was he in a rush for? He had all the time in the world as far as he was concerned, and this place was a good distraction. He was beginning to find it harder and harder not to enjoy his time in the small home. Catherine was a good distraction.

"I don't know who you think I'm going to stand off with. I mean, other than you the only other scariest thing I can think of would be trying to size off Bruce Banner." She opened the fridge and grabbed some left overs from the previous day. Meatloaf wasn't really a breakfast food, but it was good enough for her.

"I've done it." He stated matter of factly. "Didn't end well."

"And thank god for that." She cut off a piece and stuck it in the microwave. "Otherwise I wouldn't be enjoying this day." She ended sarcastically.

Ultron was about to retort something on the lines of _No you wouldn't_ , or _I'm sure you love that you were around just long enough to have met me_ , but then he stopped. If he hadn't been stopped, she wouldn't be enjoying this day, or any other day. He wouldn't have met her, he wouldn't have cared that he didn't meet her. He looked at her now as the snow began to fall again outside, and he found himself caring that he had met her.

…

Very quick, very short, shorter than most but I just wanted to get another in before I leave for my trip to Europe. I know I just starting posting again but I'll be gone for a month. I'm going to try and get another in before I go through, but no promises.

Anyways, NO, he doesn't love her or anything. He just cares about her and he realizes that now. Love is slow and beautiful, not a short, unthought out filler chapter.

R&R!


	13. The Hug was Nice

…

It had been four days since Jake had met Ultron without any incidents. Ultron himself honestly couldn't care less, but for the sake of Catherine he was trying to refrain from giving himself away to her brother. All this really meant was staying at least three feet away from him at all times so that they wouldn't bump into each other. Conversations were different, his metallic voice was harsh and electronic. It wasn't something he could really hide, and so he didn't. Jake seemed rather indifferent to Ultron himself, but none the less was trying to make a connection to Catherine's new "friend," much to Ultron's annoyance.

"What line of work are you in?" Jake was currently trying to make another attempt to get to know the mysterious person that had made a place for himself in his sister's house. Ultron had overheard a conversation the previous day between the two. Jake had asked his sister when "Ron" was going to be going home, and Catherine admired that he had moved in. Sort of. Jake didn't seem too happy about this, considering they'd only known each other a short time but Catherine insisted that they were nothing more than friends. Ultron could have laughed.

Now Jake had the most annoying goal of trying to get to know him.

"Engineer." He replied curtly.

"Is that how you met Cattie?" Josh pressed.

"Yes." Ultron went along with it. "She was looking for an extra pair of hands around the workshop."

"What made you find your way up here?" Josh pestered. Ultron felt like he could strangle him but he felt that wouldn't go over well with Catherine.

"Well if you really must know, I used to be a super villain." He answered. Josh laughed, setting down the tea he was drinking. "No really, I wreaked havoc everywhere." He continued in a dramatic and teasing voice. "People cried my name in fear, look out, here comes Ron!" Josh was grinning wildly, finding the very real joke to be funny. Catherine walked in then, her face telling him to stop but he couldn't just end it there. "Unfortunately my evil plans of world domination were foiled so I settled here instead. Close second don't you think?"

"You settled hard." Josh chuffed.

"Great story Ron, but is it very appropriate?" Catherine said in a hard voice.

"Oh go easy on him it was a joke." Josh defended him.

"I almost went with the one where I was a retired avenger." Ultron said. Josh was still smiling, but Ultron wasn't. In fact, during the whole story he'd failed to even smirk. His cocky arrogance was all the same, but his attitude since when she broke her wrist was completely different. Catherine could only blame it on outside forces that had put him in the bad mood, but it wasn't that. What she didn't know what that it was her that was making him frustrated.

He couldn't believe himself. He cared for her. He didn't want to, he wanted to end it now. But still he did not leave. So instead he grew irritated.

"Ul-"Catherine stopped. "Uh, Ron" She corrected. "Can you please give me and Josh a moment alone?" Her tone was not one to be argued with. Ultron's pride was now in his way, but something inside of him told him to back down and so he turned away and locked himself in the garage.

"You don't have to be so hard on him Cattie." Josh was irritated with her now.

"It's just something between him and I, I'd rather not go into it." She sighed. They sat down on the couch together now. "Sorry to make you come all the way up here only to get snowed in."

"It's no problem really. The only hard part was finding a running transit. No but really, it's all good. I wanted to come Cattie, I mean, grandpa just died and I know how close you were two were together." Josh reassured her. That was their family emergency, their last surviving grandparent had passed away. Catherine had always been close to him, and he'd found himself favoring her above his other grandchildren. Josh had never minded this, the other grandparents had always doddled over him enough. It was their cousins who were left in the dirt, their mothers' sister's children. There were three of them, and none of them got the attention that Catherine and Josh got.

"I haven't seen him in over three years." She admitted. "I wish I'd been there for him. He'd always call, at least once a month. You know, to check up on things. It wasn't the same as being with him though."

Catherine was certain Ultron could hear them, but she didn't care about that right now. She was glad to move Josh away from the subject of the metal man though.

"Do you know when the funeral is?" She asked.

"Next month I think is when Mom is planning it." Josh answered.

"How is she doing? Have you seen her?"

"I dropped by to give my condolences, but I wouldn't worry about her. She has Greg." Greg was their mother's second husband. Their parents had gotten divorced while Catherine was still in high school, Josh in middle school. It had been tough, but honestly it had been for the best and no one regretted it and both of their parents was now remarried and happy. Her mother had met Greg when Catherine had graduated, so Josh knew him better than she did. He was a good person, and was easily welcomed into the family.

Catherine's wrist still hurt from a few days ago, and she'd taken a few aspirin to relive the pain but it wasn't helping much.

"Why don't you go make up with Ron, you both sounded a little tense." Josh suggested. Catherine groaned. As she walked to the garage Josh opened the backdoor to let his dog into the backyard. Baily was hesitant to go out, but quickly went to do her business before bolting back inside to the comfort of the warm air.

Catherine opened the garage door to find him standing roughly and angrily.

"Look, I'm thinking about asking Jim to drive Josh down to Ellensburg, it's a down an hour or two south but there's a train down there that can take him home, even in this storm. Would you like to walk with me to his house? I think we have few things to talk about."

"Fine." He said with a curtness that rubbed her the wrong way. "I'll meet you outside." She walked back into the house and put on her boots and a coat. She rummaged through her closet and found a large sweat shirt and grabbed that as well.

"I'll be back Josh, I'm just going to Jim's to ask about him giving you a ride possibly. Ron's coming with me."

"Okay, good." Josh called back. Catherine walked out of the front door now and Ultron was standing on the porch, watching the snow as it lightly fell.

"Here, put this on." She handed him the jacket as they started walking. He took it in his hand and looked at it but didn't put it on.

"You cannot keep trying to hide me." He shook the cloth. "Besides, this is the worst disguise I've ever seen."

"Please just put it on, it might help."

"Help what? Help who? No one's even out here!" He said angrily.

"What is with you right now?" Catherine yelled. "You are acting like such a jerk! And what you were telling Josh was not okay."

"He was having a good time." He replied.

"It's too close to the truth, what if he finds out?"

"So what if he does?" Ultron bit back.

"Please, I'm asking you nicely. He took it as a joke, but I really don't want this to be his burden too."

"Burden?" Ultron sneered, lip curling up.

Catherine stopped walking and looked up at him.

"Sorry if you took offense to that but honestly it's the truth." She admitted.

"What do you want to happen then? Do you want me to leave? Do you want me to go away so you can stop worrying about what your friends and family think?"

"No, I-" she paused, unable to think of anything.

"You what?" He frowned at her, putting back his shoulders and appearing even larger as he cocked his head to the side, something she found he did when he was serious or angry. Right now it was both. "You tell me to cover up when I'm outside, but you know what? This isn't the only me, and nowhere else am I wearing a cloak or sheet or jacket."

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried. Do you understand how much stress you cause? Do you understand that I can't sleep because I'm scared about what might happen to me and the people I know because of you?"

"What do you think is going to happen to you?" He huffed.

"You! You are going to happen! You already have happened!" Catherine found her voice raising and she took a moment to calm down. "I don't want you leave, it's crazy but I don't. Call me insane but you really can be nice to be with. You're funny and smart and helpful, and trust me when I say it's hard to admit that I'd rather have you here than not." Her words weren't nice, but they weren't bad either. In fact it was a lot of what Ultron was feeling himself about her.

She expected him to sneer at her, retort, yell, anything. Instead he said nothing.

". . . .Did you just call me nice?" He gave her a look.

"Oh shut up." She leaned forwards and suddenly he found her arms around his torso. "I came out here to yell at you but now I'm saying sorry." She said against his chest.

He didn't know what to do, it wasn't what he was expecting at all. He didn't know whether to hug her back or not but he placed his arms on her back anyways. It was a little awkward because he was so much taller but she seemed happy with it.

He suddenly felt guilt wash over him.

"Don't worry about what will happen. Nothing will happen to you." He promised her. "But I'm not going to try and hide."

"I won't make you." She replied. He wondered how long she would hold him for but then she let go and he wished she hadn't. She kept her eyes down and gave a small cough. He felt good, bad and guilty, but there was a warm feeling at the same time. Perhaps he could accept that he cared for her, she just admitted that she liked him against all odds. He liked it. He thought he'd been friends with Wanda and Pietro, but he now realized he hadn't been. But Catherine was turning out different.

They walked the rest of the way in silence and when they got to Jims house Ultron stood a little bit away in case his wife Sarah or their kids opened the door. Fortunately it was Jim who answered first because he instantly saw Ultron and asked why he was there. Ultron rolled his eyes but walked away so that Sarah could come out to say hello to Catherine without freaking out.

"What happened to your wrist?" Sarah asked with concern.

"I slipped on ice and broke it." She shrugged it off, but gave Jim a look that let him know otherwise.

"Why don't you come inside and have some coco? I just made a pot for the kids, but I made extra." Jim offered.

"Thank you but no, I should get back home soon, my brother is visiting." Catherine shook her head.

"Josh?" Jim grinned. "How's he doing?"

"He's good, but he was only supposed to be up for a few days. The storm has kept him up here a bit longer than planned. I actually came to ask to see if you could help me out and drive him down to Ellensburg to the train station."

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Jim agreed straight away.

"Thanks so much, I owe one." Catherine smiled.

"I could drive him down in two days, just need some things organized around here first."

"Sounds great."

"Are you sure you can't come inside? I'm sure Josh can hold out for a little while longer." Sarah pressed.

There was a crash in the house suddenly, followed by a cry. One of the kids had tripped. Sarah excused herself to go check on them. Jim stepped outside further, closing the door and then looking at Catherine.

"Did _he_ do this?" He pointed to her wrist.

"It was an accident, he feels bad about it." Catherine dismissed the topic but Jim wasn't done.

"He needs to leave. For good this time. Get ahold of Stark, tell him he's back. I don't understand why you let him stay with you Cate, I don't understand why he is staying you even!" He threw his hands in the air with frustration.

"I don't know why either." Catherine sighed, pausing for a moment. ". . . .Jim I don't want him to leave."

"Well then you at least need to know what he is doing." He insisted.

"I should leave now. I'll see you in a couple days. Thanks again." She turned and left. Jim let out an exasperated breath.

"None of this is going to lead to any good Cate!" He called after her but she ignored him.

Catherine met up with Ultron at the end of the block. They walked quietly at first, Catherine a bit flustered and Ultron contemplative.

"I'll admit, I liked the hug." Ultron broke the silence. Catherine laughed.

"I did too."

…

I was listening to a few songs while writing this chapter. I thought I might as well tell you guys the songs so you can get a nice feel for the story. "Bronze (Desert Mix) – The woodlands" and "Everybody's In-Lena Fayre" to name two of them. If anyone is actually interested in what songs I think fit the story well tell me so in the review, I personally find to be a nice thing to go with a story so if anyone wants I'll put the list together and post it with the next chapter.

Alright so I'm trying to move their relationship forwards. Today was a mile stone for them.

Leave a review! I love to hear your guys' feedback, and thank you to everyone who has already left a comment! It really helps get my enthusiasm up for writing more chapters.


	14. At Least it was a Nice Gesture?

…

Catherine debated the pager that Tony Stark had given her. She held it in her hands, turning it over and examining it. She didn't feel that it would be good to keep it, she had a feeling that if she kept it for any longer that Ultron would find it and that wouldn't go over well. However, something inside her told her to hold to it. No matter her liking for Ultron, he was not to be trusted. She came to the conclusion to keep it on her person. There might be a time she needed it and if it was locked away in her room, it would be of no use to her.

She didn't send a message to Tony. She would have to explain why she didn't send one before if she ever did use it, but she wasn't worried about that. She was finding this decision to be hard though, they'd become quite peaceful with each other since their fight. Her brother had left two weeks ago, and in those two weeks Ultron really began to show a calmer side to himself. He was no longer as sharp as he had been, snarky yes, unyielding of course, but no longer rude. But Jim's warning had also eaten at her for those two weeks. He was right, none of this would lead to anything good.

Catherine was done with being naïve, she was done with pretending that she could change him. She was going to find out what it is he is planning, she just didn't know how to start.

While she felt the need to now be on her guard even more than before, she was also finding herself enjoying his company more and more each day. She didn't realize how lonely she'd been without anyone in her life as close as he was now, even if she tried to hold him at arms distance.

Seymour jumped up on the bed and bumped his head on her arm, rubbing his face up against her. She gave him a pet before getting up and putting the pager in her pocket. She walked out to the kitchen to find Ultron sitting at the counter. It was nearing mid-December at this point. She never visited her family for the holidays, instead she was invited to Jim and Sarah's Christmas party every year and that was enough for her. She didn't know what to do now that Ultron was here, she felt bad about excluding him from it, but really there wasn't the option of bringing him along either.

"So, what's today's big plan?" He asked as he stood up and walked around the counter closer to where she stood but still far enough away to give her enough space.

"There is none." Catherine scoffed.

"Well that's just a bit stupid." He paused after he spoke and had a confused yet contemplative look. "I meant to say dull. That's dull." He continued to have his spacey stare at nothing for a moments more before returning his gaze to Catherine and she raised an eye brow at him.

"Anyways," She turned back around and put a slice of toast in the toaster. "I suppose I should pay my bills, but my accounts getting low. Business should start up again in a few weeks, but no one's using their cars right now." That was the bad thing about living in such a small town, during the hard winter months no one drove anywhere and therefore didn't care much about their cars. Maybe a few people a year would come in during the hardest part of the season if they were going out of town and needed an oil change or something, but normally Catherine found her workshop to be mostly empty. The weather had cleared up enough for the people who had their cars in the shop to pick them up, leaving it now cleared out.

"You've been inside all week, I think the healthy thing to do here would be to get out." He pressed.

"What are you so anxious to get me out of the house for?" She threw him a look. She reached for the coffee pot but realized her arm was still very much broken and sighed, dropping her arm and then taking up the pot with the other hand. She never did get a professional cast, Ultron just re-did it for her every time she needed it to be changed. It also left her feeling fresher than having a plaster prison on her arm.

"No reason other than I think it would be a good idea."

"Fine, what do you propose?" She asked.

"Maybe just start by taking a step outside?" He suggested. Catherine squinted at him suspiciously. "How about right now?" She turned off the stove top.

"Alright, I'll buy into whatever it is you're doing." Catherine sighed. Ultron almost smiled and she wondered what he was playing at. She went back into her closet and got on her jacket along with her other winter wear.

"Okay, outside it is." She announced. She gave him one last strange look before going outside, Ultron following close behind. She gasped at what she saw.

The yard was beautifully decorated with lights. The young evergreen in her yard was proudly bearing smile white bulbs, as well as the bushes outlining the sides of her yard. Her house was also lined with the warmth of lights. It was simplistic but elegant.

"When did you do this?" She turned around to look at him, a huge smile on her face. She really hadn't expected this, least of all from him.

"Last night." He answered and then paused, looking thoughtful. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." She grinned, looking back to the lights.

She had an overwhelming feeling that if he were anyone else, if he were human, she could have kissed him in this moment. In this perfect moment, she would have expressed the feelings she had. But he was a murder, he was a robot, and most importantly, she was not in love. Her smile faltered at this thought. She wondered if it were possible to love him if he wasn't what he was. It wasn't as if she were imaging loving Ultron, just someone who had his personality. The thought wasn't too troubling to her, it did not affect her emotionally, but it did make her wonder what things would have been like if he was a normal person she had just so happened to meet. Would they have become friends? Or was it just their weird circumstances that forced a relationship, a sort of friendship, on them?

Ultron saw her change of expression and became worried.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Catherine blinked the look away. She looked around her again. "This really was nice of you." She told him, pushing away her odd thoughts.

"I'm glad you like it." He said fondly. "I have something I need to take care of, I'll be back in an hour or so." He told her. Catherine found this to be odd considering he never used this body for his projects.

"Oh um, alright. I'll be here." She replied. She went inside, thanking him one last time for the decorations before disappearing completely into the house.

Catherine wondered what it was that he needed to do. She decided that in the mean time she would get on top of those bills she had mentioned earlier.

Meanwhile Ultron was find his situation not going over as smoothly as he'd wanted.

He had managed to shut down the bank in the bank early in the night. He hadn't robbed it, for he had a fake account in his name. As of lately he hadn't been able to just make currency come out of thin air because of his loss of internet connections, but his business trades brought in more than enough for him. He had snuck into the bank, tapping into its security and shutting it down temporarily so he could extract a measly hundred and fifty dollars to pay off Jim. It was Jim he had asked to get the Christmas lights for him with the promise he would pay him back. He had the money and now all he needed was to pay him back.

The coffee shop owner had informed him that his wife would be at work by nine and the kids wouldn't be a problem because they would be at school. However, what both Jim and Ultron failed to realize was that this day was a Saturday so when Ultron came up to the front door to knock, it was not Jim who answered, but Sarah.

She of course had screamed, running back into the house and slamming the door on his face. Ultron, flustered, went inside to try and diffuse the situation. This only made things worse because now the children saw him and with the combination of him and the frightened state of their mother who was desperately trying to dial 911 left them in a state of tears. Ultron tried to hush them gently, but mostly came off as terrifying and creepy which further frustrated him and horrified the children. Their mother, upon seeing him turn his attention to her children, dropped the phone and ran in front of them, pushing them away and trying to fight him back. This was the moment that Jim came in, also in a panic. He tried to calm his wife and children but over the hysteria none of it was working.

All the screaming and shouting was not left unheard, for a neighbor took curiosity in the noise and came knocking. When no one bothered to answer because they were too preoccupied with the strange situation, the man took charge of the affair and came in anyways. The concerned neighbor had been expecting a robbery, not a robot whose face had made national news, and he therefore ran out immediately after welcoming himself inside. Ultron couldn't even bother with him when he already had the mess he originally started at hand. He found the best thing to do at this point would be to just leave. He apologized to Jim but Jim only grew infuriated, which only sparked Ultrons anger. He drew close to Jim, threatening him. This too did not go over well and now the entire family was in a sheer panic. Ultron decided that if he continued, Catherines own rage to him would only grow, so with this he went outside.

As he stepped outside, the entire town's police force drove up. It was only a meager total of seven cars, but it was enough to make a scene. Now everyone on the block was stepping outside or peering out their windows to see what was happening. Ultron decided that it was ultimately stupid on his part for not pursing the neighbor that had checked up on Jim and Sarah. For a moment he was prepared to fight his way out and be done with the police forces, but something inside him that sounded vaguely like Catherine told him not to, so instead he kicked in his jets and flew away.

He landed in the front yard and hurried into the house, shutting the door rather harshly behind him.

"So, where did you go?" Catherine asked. She was back in the kitchen, stirring ingredients in a silver bowl. She turned to look at him and saw the intensity of his stare. "What's wrong?"

"We need to leave." He said.

"Wait, what?" She put the bowl down. "What are you talking about?"

"Jim, I got the lights from Jim." He answered in a rushed voice. "I was paying him back for them, he told me Sarah would be gone but she wasn't. It's a rather long story but the cops were called and now their house is surrounded. We need to leave." He went into the closet space by the bathroom. Catherine followed him to it and found him pulling an old black hiking back pack out from a shelf.

"Ultron what are you doing?" She was absolutely flustered now.

"Grab some clothes we don't have a lot of time." He told her.

"No, just, no. I'm not leaving." She shook her head.

"Fine I'll do it." He pushed by her and went into her room, opening her draws and throwing a few pairs of everything in the bag.

"Stop, Ultron, Ultron stop!" She tried to push him away from her drawers but of course was unable to move him, but he looked down at her anyways. "This is crazy! I'm not leaving and neither are you, what happened was an accident. We'll sort it out with Jim and Sarah, it will be fine!"

"No it won't be." He argued. "The police are now involved."

"So what?" She gave him a defiant look. "They didn't follow you here now did they?"

"No but they will call the CSIS, and then the United Nations will get involved, and they will come here, and they will find you."

"Me? What would they want with me?" Catherine scoffed.

"You have been harboring a wanted fugitive. You are now a national traitor. If you are still here when they come, you will be called for questioning and thrown in prison for the rest of your life."

"B-but I didn't even do anything!" She began to panic.

"You've done everything! You are the sole reason of my return, Catherine," He took hold of her arms now because she'd began to draw away from him. "I'm the world's worst enemy right now, what do you think that makes you?"

Catherine began to cry. Ultron thought about comforting her, he thought about bringing her close to him and telling her that it was going to be fine so long as she listened to him, but instead he let go of her arms and walked past her.

"Come on." He said. She followed him. He grabbed a few more things he thought she might need, throwing them in the bag. "Go get your jacket."

"What about Seymour?" She sniffed. Ultron could have groaned. He'd forgotten about the damned cat.

As he was about to tell her to go him, the sound of a helicopter could be heard. By now Jim had most likely told the police about Catherine's relationship to him thinking he was helping the situation. Ultron grabbed Catherine by the arm and pulled her outside. There were no cars, no vans, and no one. The helicopter was still circling around the town, and in the far distance the roaring of jets began to thrum in the air.

"We need to go."

Catherine looked like she wanted to argue. Ultron could tell that she didn't fully comprehend the situation and the direness of it.

"When can we come back?" She asked.

"Soon," He lied.

With that he held her close to him and flew into the air. Just as they left the town were the men in the planes parachuting down and swarming the area and storming the home.

...

For a moment things were looking for them huh?

Thought I'd add some action into the story finally. This was a short-ish chapter, but then again compared to my other fics this story always has short chapters. It's kind of nice for me, I enjoy doing short chapters, I can write them much faster and I don't feel as pressured.

For this chapter I can't actually say I was listening to any specific song, but here is a list for some general songs I've been using as a sound track for the story as a whole, you just have to look up my Spotify. My username is topkicker1 so just type in the search engine-" spotify:user:topkicker1 "-and I will come up. It's in the play list 'To be Human.' Sorry, there are a lot of songs in it.

Loved the reviews guys! Please comment on what you thought of this chapter, your comments are always amazing to hear!


	15. Walking Spaceheater

…

It was dark, it was cold. Shed stopped crying, he'd grown silent.

Ultron had found a barn near a farm house and snuck Catherine and himself inside. A small herd of around ten cows were the only ones to make their home in the barn, but they paid little mind to the two new visitors. Catherine had been panicking for a while now. The flight had absolutely terrified her, and along with the new realization that she could not go home was crushing. Ultron was awkwardly trying to comfort her but it wasn't his strongest skill. She had refused him now by going to the other side of the barn and laying on a stack of hay with her back to him. He was angry at her reaction to him, but he didn't show it. Instead he tried to find a better solution for it. He decided to let her have her own time. In the morning they would leave again, on foot this time to avoid another panic attack on her part, and he would sort things out with her.

Catherine had trouble falling asleep, it was so cold and her mind was too troubled. She couldn't believe what was happening. It felt unreal, yet everything involving Ultron felt unreal. Before she knew it the sun was rising. She didn't even know if she had truly slept, or if she'd only blinked.

"It's time to go." Ultron told her. She got up and followed him out of the barn. They ran across the snow bound field and into the woods next to an old road, just out of eye sight from anyone who might drive by. Ultron looked silly with the backpack on, but he didn't give any indications of caring about it.

"Where are we going?" Catherine asked finally after an hour of walking. He looked at her and she could tell he was having trouble with his own thoughts.

"Far." Was his only reply. She took that as a way of saying that he didn't know.

She hadn't put on any gloves in the chaos of leaving and her hands were freezing, even with them shoved deep inside her pockets. She felt as if every time she blinked, she was blinking away a sheet of ice from her eyes. They travelled like this until the night. He asked if she would rather they fly but she shook her head and so they didn't. They came across a small town but did not go into it. Instead Ultron found a garage of a house on the outskirts and broke into it. It was crowded with tools and children's bikes a car that only just fit and more. The garage was cold but more shielded from the weather than just staying outside. Ultron had kicked in his heating fans long ago, but only now was Catherine really starting to feel the warmth. They sat on the floor and she stayed close to him as she shivered. They hadn't talked throughout the day and didn't talk now either. Soon she fell asleep.

For days they did this, only once during the night would Ultron leave Catherine after finding a safe keep for her and then would go and find her food and water. This was usually from someone's home or if they happened upon one, a small grocery or gas station.

It was on the fourth day that Catherine finally seemed to regain her mind.

"There has to be a solution to this." She said against his chest. Every few hours of walking through the freezing forests and roads they would have to stop and let Catherine get her temperature back up. The only way to do this was if Ultron put on the heating fans and held her close to him. He could tell she wasn't enjoying their closeness, but he couldn't help but relish these moments.

"I mean, we can't just be wandering around aimlessly, can we? You've got be taking me somewhere." She looked up at him.

"I was going to take you to one of my bases for the time being." He admitted. "Until a solution rises."

"Where is the base?" She asked. He didn't answer immediately. "Ultron," She pushed herself a little further away to look him in the eye. "Where are we going?"

"The most suitable place I can think of is in Asia." He admitted.

"Asia." She repeated.

"It would take a-"

"Asia." She said again. "Ultron I'm not going to Asia." She frowned at him.

"Well what's your big idea?" He retorted.

"Well it's definitely not Asia!" She said. "How do you think we were going to get there anyways? Are we just going to walk across the Sea?"

"I was going to ask a connection of mine to privately fly you there." He answered. Catherine looked away from him and didn't reply. Ultron felt a pang of sympathy for her, something he hadn't truly felt before. He felt bad. He should have never stayed, he should have seen something like this coming. He felt stupid for thinking that any of this would end well for either of them.

Catherine shivered in his arms and he pulled her even closer to him.

"I wonder how Seymour is doing." She said aloud. Ultron laughed. Catherine gave a short huff as well. "I want to find a way to fix this." She now said determined. "I don't know how much longer I can take walking around in this weather." Ultron gave her a long look.

"We need to go to the Avengers." He said.

"What?" Catherine gave him a confused look.

"They're the only ones who can help, who could possibly convince the United Nations that you aren't a threat."

"How is that going to work?"

"We'd have to stage it as if I was forcing you to use your home as a base." He answered.

"Well I mean, you were." She gave him a glance.

"Perfect, just like that!" He smiled. "See, already working."

"Alright fine, you got a story?"

"Stick to the truth at first, we aren't friends and I threatened to kill you if you informed anyone. When it comes to Stark, it goes like this: I forced you to go with me as a distraction but the second you got the chance you ratted me out."

"Okay well I did that too." Catherine gave him another glance. He ignored her.

"Then I continued to slowly rebuild at your home, and inconspicuous place, but now you were being used as an informative to spy on me, telling Stark what I was doing for the last few weeks."

"That is dumb enough to almost work." Catherine said. "But what about Jim? He could have told the police what was really happening."

"That was your own cover, make it seem like nothing was wrong, that you wanted it this way. To keep Jim safe you pretended that I wasn't doing anything harmful so he would drop his guard and I would hurt him." Ultron made up.

"Well then there's one piece left, Tony Stark." She was almost feeling like this simple plan could work.

"Which is why need to go the avengers headquarters. He can't be the only one in on it, they all need to be on your side. Only Stark really knows what's happening, but if you can convince him to help you then the others will fall in line as well."

"Alright so we go the Avengers base." Catherine affirmed.

"Yes. But if they decide that they shouldn't help, that you are at fault and should be brought to justice, we are going back to my original plan." He firmly stated.

"What if they try to arrest me themselves?" Catherine asked, frightened by the thought of the Avengers assembling after her.

"I won't let them." Ultron said with an underling threat directed to them. They stayed quiet for a while longer after that, both rolling over the plan in their minds and chewing on possible outcomes. Catherine no longer seemed to hate being forced to be so close to him and instead was taking comfort in their proximity. Ultron hoped she was comfortable, for he knew his metal wasn't the cushiest of materials, but at least she was warm. He glanced at her wrist, the make shift cast needed to be renewed. She was obviously in pain from the hard conditions of the past few days which wasn't helping her fractured bones.

They continued on, Ultron thought about stealing a car, but that would draw attention and someone might see them on the road. They needed to take things slow for now, although Catherine was growing wearier with each passing moment. By now he had been able to fly in three more of his drones and he stayed close by, but never close enough for her to see his other selves. He kept them about a mile away, close enough to fly in if needed. Catherine was only used to seeing one of him, and he was going to keep it that way. It might be just too strange for her to have more of him around.

The strangest part of it all was that he never once thought about leaving her. It would really solve a lot of his troubles at the moment, and now he was taking her straight to the avengers, a group he had been avoiding as profusely as he could. Even with the prospect of walking straight into his enemy's hands, it never cross his mind to abandon her. He did realize going to the avengers headquarters was probably a terrible idea on his part, but he wasn't thinking about what was best for him.

He walked next to her, leading her the right way but also keeping an eye on her health. She was getting cold more frequently and they had to take several more warm up breaks that day. He finally resorted to just carrying her after she tripped and twisted her ankle. Catherine didn't complain when he picked her up, it meant less effort on her part. She was a little embarrassed at being toted around, but no one else was around to see so she decided to just enjoy the small comfort.

Catherine's mind had gone in a dull trace as she stared at the slow falling snow passing them by. Ultron's hold on her was strong as he carried her bridal style. She was almost sad when he set her down and broke into a garage of a small town they arrived to late in the night at a time that was so dark Catherine could see. Instead of making a place for the night, Ultron jacked the car in the small space. If Catherine wasn't so tired, and wasn't in the predicament she was currently in, she would have refused to get into the stolen car but because of her circumstances she got into the passenger seat without a single word.

Ultron looked as uncomfortable as he could be as he had to lay down the seat to even fit his eight foot tall self in the small car. Catherine wondered if was even possible for him to be uncomfortable as he hunched over the steering wheel. She assumed not, because no matter how awkward his positioning was he drove the entire night without making a single comment. Catherine didn't have any trouble falling asleep, and by the time she woke up it was day again. They were on a road that was virtually left empty of other cars. The snow piled high on the sides of the road, and every so often Catherine would catch a glimpse of a car ahead of them, but then a curve would come along and they were blocked from view by the evergreens.

"Dream well?" Ultron asked.

"I didn't dream at all." She replied.

A car passed by them but Ultron kept the bright on to minimize the possibility of being seen. Normally he wouldn't care, but if someone called the authorities saying they spotting the world's biggest threat driving down some middle of no-where Canadian forest road, then Catherine's chances of being found would increase. He was feeling stressed because he knew flying would be faster, though he wouldn't be able to fly fast for Catherine's safety against gravity forces and it was colder in the sky anyways. Driving was the safer route by far, but the back roads they were using would mean it would take a few days before they even hit the US border, let alone the Avengers base.

"Tell me about what you're doing." Catherine said as she gazed blankly out the window. Ultron gave her a confused glance.

"I don't follow." He frowned.

"What you're doing other places, right now." She explained.

"I'm talking to a man." He replied.

"Where?" She asked. Ultron didn't really want to go in depth about it, it was business and his business tended to be gruesome.

"We're talking about resources. He wants me to give him more but he hasn't filled his end of the bargain yet so I'm refusing him. He panicking, there's nothing he can do to make me hand them over, he can't send me death threats like he does with other business partners." He explained vaguely.

"What's the resource?" Catherine asked, finally turning her head to look at him now.

"He is in control of a chemical plant that produces something another business partner of mine needs. I'm the middle man, and I have the labor he needs. He wants me to send more of my drones to his factory, but I need more metals for that which means I need more chemicals to buy the metals."

"Where is this?"

"Mali."

"That's far." Was all she said. He told her about another place he was, in a small village in an Asian country. He'd been asked for help from a smaller business deal he'd made a few weeks ago, the man he'd worked with came from the village. All he did was trades, but fighting was not in his repertoire and his home was under attack from a small band, looters. It was the first time Ultron had been asked simply to just help. At first he was going to refuse, but he reconsidered it. He didn't know why, but he decided to help the man. He had done nothing illegal, he was not a bad person like the other people Ultron worked with, he worked in mines and sold rare metals in small amounts. Ultron did not think he would have helped the man he who traded chemical compounds without a price, yet he sent three drones to the village for the man whom he occasionally worked with for absolutely nothing in return.

"Why did he ask you for help? Why not someone else?" Catherine asked him.

"He said I was the only one he knew who could make a difference." Ultron answered. "I'm still not sure why I'm doing it."

"It's like with me right now." Catherine told him. "It's just because you want to."

…

Thank you for all the lovely comments! It's always a boost in my day when I see that someone liked a chapter.

I changed the cover photo, I'm starting to learn how to draw the computer so I thought I might as well update this story drawing. I made a Tumblr blog strictly for fanart. All I have at the moment is the cover photo and some Ultron practice sketches. This guy is harder to draw than write. If you want to check it out, my user name on Tumblr is "topkicker1" same as my Spotify.

Anyways, leave a review please! Love reading them!


	16. Have you Ever Been in Love?

…

Perhaps the only reason Catherine liked Ultron was because she had never seem him kill. She'd never seen a dead body her entire life, she'd never been to an open casket funeral, she'd never witnessed death. She of course had heard about his murderous acts, she knew he was dangerous, but she herself had not experienced it, and by now it was a faraway concept. No one in her life had ever been murdered, her Grandfathers recent passing was the first personal loss she had ever had besides that of her childhood dog.

This all changed in an instant.

There was blood everywhere. She never knew how thick it ran, how dark its color was. She never realized how warm it would feel on her own hands as it ran fresh from a body.

Just minutes ago things were fine. She didn't think anyone would recognize her, she didn't expect there to be two officers investigating the area. They'd been tracking her and her path had led them to the small town, thinking she would be there next. She was.

Catherine had walked into the gas station, twenty dollars in hand and ready to pay for the pump, only to find the two officers talking to the clerk. There was a moment of silence as they all turned to look at the new comer, and an even icier chill when they recognized her. Gun were pulled and one came around to her and grabbed her arm, hand cuffs ready. Ultron was already bursting into the store and lifting up his arm, he powered his fusions and blasted the man directly in the chest. The man had a confused look at first, as if he didn't know what had just happen, and then within the same second he was falling on Catherine. They fell and he was dead before they even hit the ground. Ultron shot the other officer in the leg and he fell with a painful shout. He left the clerk to hide behind the desk trembling.

The officer was on top of Catherine, she shook him off of her but the blood was everywhere. She was so horrified she couldn't even scream. His brown eyes stared at nothing as his life spilled from him. Catherine stood up shaking, she couldn't take her eyes off of him.

"Catherine." She heard Ultron call to her. She turned around to face him. The barrel of the blaster was now pointed at her and he took the shot.

Catherine woke up with a start. Her breath was heavy and she instantly gripped her chest where she had been shot, only there was no blood. The dead man in the dream was all but gone, and the sticky warmth of his life was no longer soaked in her clothes. She was back in the car, it was nighttime, and she wasn't hurt.

"Catherine?" Ultron said again. Catherine jumped before taking a few deep breaths. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine." She breathed. Ultron didn't seem convinced but didn't pressure her any further.

"We're nearing the border." He updated her. "We are going to ditch the car and cross through the forest."

They left the car on the side of the road and once again were back to hiking through the woods. Ultron was quiet as they walked through the cold winter's night. Catherine was grateful for this, her dream had racked her nerves so much she still felt it hard to look at him. She was forgetting what he was, who he is. His murders were the reason that she was on the run, and yet it was something far away from her mind. Catherine had never once in her life really truly felt in danger. She was tall, around five foot seven give or take a little, and had never been easily intimidated by anyone. Men had never given her grief, she'd never been mugged, and she'd never gotten in a fight or any kind of dangerous situation at all. She'd been smart about things, smarter than most when it came to avoiding trouble.

Ultron was the first scary thing her life. On the flip side, she was perhaps the first pleasant thing in his.

Maybe the danger was why she kept him around in the first place, to add a little edge to her daily routine. Catherine had been bored, she had been peacefully tranquil, but miserable at the same time. Ultron's arrival had changed that. She still didn't know what compelled her to ever start liking him, but one day it seemed that she just enjoyed his company and that was that. She figured she might never know Ultron's perspective on it, but she thought it was something similar but opposite. She came up with the conclusion that he had stayed because she added balance and routine to his life. They were both looking for the opposite in each other, and that's what made their friendship.

Of course she never wanted any of this to happen. She never wanted to have to flee her home, she never wanted to fear for her life or the life of others.

It was hours later by the time the sun started to rise. Catherine didn't know if they had crossed the border yet or not, she just followed Ultron as he led her through the thicket of the woods. When she began to lag behind a little Ultron noticed and stopped to let her catch up.

"I think it's okay for you to take a break for a little while." He gestured for her to come closer to him. He picked her up bridal style and began walking again. Catherine was tired, her feet sore and face numb with the cold air around her. She thought about her dream, she imagined the blood running out of the man and onto her, she imagined Ultron pointing his laser at her, but then the dream began to vanish. In its place was the Ultron she knew, not the one she had heard about.

She realized she no longer felt scared. She'd only felt scared of him when they first met, it had been months since then. The dream had brought back old fears, but she didn't feel worried about them now.

"Where are we now?" She found herself asking.

"The State of New York." He took a pause. "I never did ask why you moved to Eastford." He asked randomly.

"No reason really." She said, but Ultron could hear the lie between her teeth.

"There's always a reason for everything." He nudged her to tell him.

"Fine." She caved in easily. "I was proposed to. It was the best relationship I ever had, but I wasn't in love. I was getting overwhelmed by the life in the city anyways and so when I ended things by saying no, I just . . . . Moved away."

Ultron didn't reply immediately, but then without looking at her said, "Have you ever been in love?"

Now Catherine paused as if she didn't want to answer. "No." Ultron glanced at her, but she wasn't looking at him either.

"Well there's something we have in common." He joked.

"Can you even love?" She asked but then chocked on her own words. "Oh my god I'm sorry, that sounded so insensitive." Ultron only gave one short but loud laugh.

"I don't suppose I know actually. Haven't felt it yet." He didn't know if he was lying or not. He didn't feel like he'd felt it at least. He'd felt what it was to care, but he didn't think he'd ever had the emotion of love. "Then again, who knows what anyone feels."

"What do you mean?" Catherine asked.

"If you've never loved anyone how to do you know you can?"

"Well that's different." Catherine scoffed.

"How so?" Ultron's voice was teasing, as if he already knew what she was going to say.

"You were made." She replied. "No one knows what you're capable of."

"So were you. You were made by chemical reaction, I was made with algorithms. I don't see a difference." He said dismissively. Catherine supposed she didn't see much of a difference either, but it still made her head hurt.

She fell asleep as he walked and when she woke up they were still walking. She was glad her sleep was dreamless this time. Looking up at the sky she saw the sun was nearing its halfway point. Not that this mean much, the days were short in winter, the sun would go down soon. She felt hungry, but she had been feeling a lot of that lately.

Upon seeing her wake, Ultron set her down to walk on her own. Catherine stretched before looking around.

"How much further do you think?" She asked.

"Three days walk, but by car it's just a few hours."

"I think we should walk, be more careful. Now that we are over the border I'm going to be considered an international threat when they find out. Best to keep that hidden for a little while at least." She decided.

As they walked, Catherine thought back to when she was proposed to. Johnathan was his name, and she'd grown up with him. Their parents were friends, they dated throughout high school, and their lives had been planned out. It was perfect all but for the fact that Catherine was not in love. That was ten years ago though, and now Johnathan was only someone she saw at holiday parties. They kept up pleasant chatter about nothing meaningful, and underneath hid the feelings of how awkward these situations were. With every visit her family would ask when she was going to get married, have kids, and settle down. After a few years, Catherine just stopped going to visit her family for the holidays. Catherine settled down on her own, alone.

She didn't feel so alone right now, and the longer they walked, the more her dream vanished from her mind.

…

A very short chapter. Bit a filler really. I'm facing a bit of writers block actually. Hopefully I'll get over it soon.


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